Savior
by DannyDeeDanny
Summary: Hope and Lightning set out to find a way to save Fang and Vanille. Alternating storyline between Hope/Lightning, Fang/Vanille. Spoilers.
1. Guilt

The sun crept out of the shadows as it had done for hundreds of years. The start of life had found it's beginning and it's end as it had done for centuries before this one. Lightning walked up to the crystals and placed her hand upon them.

"We are powerless now."

She looked back at Hope, who at this time had grown into a man. He was no longer a little boy, his features had developed into the masculinity that can never be enjoyed by youth completely. Hope looked up at the crystals and grabbed Lightning's hand. The sight of the crystals made them both wince.

"We will find a way."

Lightning looked at Hope and smiled slightly, the same smile he had enjoyed since his youth. The sun was setting by this time and the two sat on a ledge that had become cracked and broken throughout the years.

"We must defeat the gods."

Hope threw a sharp glance at Lightning and knew that her words were final. He let go of her hand ,got up, and walked up to the crystal structure. The blue radiated from his face and sharpened his handsome features.

"We don't have to. Life can be simple if we leave things alone. I know you don't like it when I say this but... I will always take care of you."

Upon those words she quickly jumped up from her position and walked towards the crystal... the only remnants of Fang and Vanille that still existed in the world; the sacrifice and their union. She closed her eyes for a few minutes and then turned to him with eyes full of tears.

"I can't sleep. Even when you're with me I can't sleep. They haunt me. I must help them."

Upon hearing her speak, Hope walked over to Lightning. He too had had the dreams, he had felt the guilt. Both he and Lightning knew that they should find a way to free their friends from the bondage that might hold them for eternity.

"I know. I have had the same dreams. I always thought they would end up together, but not like this."

Lightning felt her stomach become uneasy. She slowly dropped to her knees as the night breeze started to dominate the air. It blew through her hair and she gasped at the feeling. Hope crept down to her position and brushed the wind blown hair from her face...and upon success put his arm around her. With their heads rested against one another they finally saw the glow of the crystals as the day gave into night.


	2. To Start

The sunlight crept through the small shabby apartment that Lightning had been renting for some time. She had been working as a security officer for some time now and had made considerable progress moving up in the ranks.

She still retained her hard to get to persona and stunning good looks, even though she had just turned thirty a few months ago and was well respected by all of her colleagues.

Lately however, she couldn't concentrate and had taken a leave of absence to gather herself and try and figure out what was bothering her. It seemed that Hope had been feeling the same way and the two had been spending a lot more time together during her leave of absence. Lightning seemed to sleep more than she used to, mainly to forget about feeling like she needed to do something that she knew not what.

So one day woke up alone in her bed as usual, with the exception that she no longer had anywhere to go. She was no longer in the military and could no longer use that to ease her mind. She didn't know what she wanted or what she was fighting for anymore.

Serah and Snow had already moved away and started a life together. She had a friend in Hope but knew that it wasn't too long before he would expect more of her, more than she would ever be able to give him.

There was no place in the world that she could go that would ease the uneasiness that she constantly felt. There was a part of her that didn't even know why she wanted to save Fang and Vanille. Perhaps she figured that at least someone should be happy, since it certainly wouldn't be her anytime soon.

There was also a part of her that saw in Fang and Vanille what she wished she had. When she thought of the two she couldn't figure out which of the two she wished she was or if she even longed to be one or the other. So as usual she got up and got ready and pretended at least for a moment that something mattered... then a knock came on the door.

"May I come in?"

She looked at the door and hesitated putting her hand on her weapon, as if there was still something to be anxious about.

"Yes?"

Upon that, Hope walked in the door and gave her a sheepish look as if he were intruding upon something strange.

"What's wrong? You look strange..."

He looked at her with the innocence that can only exist in the most trusting of friends.

"Nothing... I just don't feel well."

With eyes cast down she walked over to the mirror and continued to get ready. Hope walked over to a nearby chair and sat down... looking around the room for something to fixate on.

"Why is your curtain torn?"

She thought of a few days ago when she got extremely depressed and ripped them out of frustration. She felt a knot well up in her stomach just thinking about it, so she didn't answer and continued to get ready. Hope noticed the lack of reply and started tapping his fingers on the arm rests in discomfort.

"We have to go back to Oerba village. There may be clues there as to where we will begin on our search."

She gave a sharp glare and looked intently into the mirror. She inched closer to her reflection and pulled her face tight, making the fine lines that had formed on the edges of her eyes disappear. Then glancing back she gave a reluctant sigh as if hesitating to speak.

"Why are you doing this? Helping me?"

She looked at Hope with a strained expression, and then glanced back at the mirror and continued to fix her hair. He answered her back with a sigh and a strange smile.

"Why are you?"

He got up and walked over to where she was standing and grabbed her hand. She gasped without realizing and threw him a sharp 'what are you doing?' stare. He smiled arrogantly and held her hand as one would a favorite aunt.

"Light, you don't have to worry. I know you more than you'd like me to. I don't expect anything out of you. Besides..."

He let go of her hand and walked over to the window that was covered by the torn curtain, leaving her there dumbstruck.

"You don't need a man Ms. Light.."

He glanced back at her with a sarcastic smile that made her glance down in discomfort. He swayed back and forth and had a sarcastic smirk that couldn't be seen from where she was standing.

"Do you?"

She couldn't decide what bothered her more, the fact that he knew what she was thinking or the words that came out of his mouth.

"I...Hope...."

They both stood there for a second and then he gave a slight chuckle.

"Don't worry. Your secret is safe with me... now about that Oerba village expedition...lets go."

He walked over to the window, ripped the curtain down and continued on his way out the door.

"First we need to get you some new drapes."


	3. The Oath

Fang and Vanille sat in the room in silence, only briefly looking up to catch one another's worried gaze. Fang got up and went to the window of the house in their village and looked out, hidden away to where Vanille couldn't see the tears that had welled up.

Vanille sat on the bed and looked up at the boyish teen who stood in front of her and wished more than anything that Fang would run over and hold her and never let go. Instead she just sat there and could feel the whole world crashing down around her. The older girl sighed and looked out the window, trying desperately to keep her voice from breaking.

"Well isn't that a ripper. When is the ceremony?"

She spoke softly and continued to look out the window and closed her eyes, desperately trying to stop a tear from falling... unsuccessfully.

Vanille too was trying to seem strong and unflinching as she sat there trying to keep herself from sobbing. She breathed for a moment and then painfully swallowed the lump that had formed in her throat and began to speak.

"Elder Stone said it would be at the end of month sometime..."

Vanille still couldn't see Fang's face and craned her neck to try and notice if she was reacting at all, which she certainly hoped she was. She couldn't tell if Fang was even moved by this piece of news and felt as if she could die because of it.

The strawberry girl was always good at hiding her feelings and this was no exception. She just looked back up at Fang and started to unravel the beads on her skirt that she had made the week before. She focused heavily on them and then looked back up at Fang who just stood there in silence.

"I wanted to go with you... elder Stone didn't even tell me he was arranging this... I've never even spoken to Moon for more than ten minutes at a time."

She looked down again and started pulling at the beads again, which then broke and spilled all over the floor causing Fang to turn her head slightly. The raven girl then lowered her head, closing her eyes and retaining her immobile stance.

"I just became l'cie... I wanted you to come with me... he knew it too...I'm only doing this for you and the others. Why is he doing this to me? I hate him."

Upon those words her voice broke and Vanille realized that Fang's sniffles weren't related to indoor allergies. She got up slowly and walked over to where Fang stood and wrapped her arms around her waist, kissing between her shoulder blades, and resting into a tight squeeze.

Upon feeling Vanille's arms Fang couldn't help but let off a sob. Her whole body tensed up but she didn't try and push the younger girl off.

"Rack off!"

Fang's voice had at this point taken on the swollen sound of someone who has been allowing the tears to build up. Vanille squeezed tighter and Fang let out an unintentional whimper that made even Vanille gasp.

"Please... stop."

By this time both of the girls were sobbing quietly, as if in some corner, someone was watching. Fang's back was wet from Vanille's tears and once both of them had spent their energy upon one another, Fang reached down and broke Vanille's hold that she had around her waist.

She turned around and kissed Vanille more passionately then the friendly pecks that the two exchanged prior. Fang held Vanille's face in her hands and the smaller girl melted when for the first time she felt the older girl's tongue. Fang had by this time moved one of her arms on the smaller girl's waist and was able to hold her up.

The two girls kissed for a moment and the heat could be felt between the two of them. Even Vanille's hands had found their way under the older girls shirt and the two exchanged in that way until they had to break it off to catch breath. The two just kept their faces inches apart and then Fang looked the young girl in the eyes and lowered her own and grabbed the strawberry's hand.

"You're not getting married Vanille... not to that bloke anyway."

Fang shook her head as if on a mission and Vanille looked up at her and couldn't help but give a chuckle... rubbing her burning eyes and feeling oddly happy.

"I'm not? Who am I marrying then?"

Fang turned around and it could be seen that her eyes were puffy and swollen from the moments earlier. She grabbed Vanille's hand and placed it upon her own chest.

"I want you to promise me... from this day forward... that we will never be separated or abandon one another... in both illness and happiness... forever..."

At this point Fang was looking down at Vanille's hands unable to meet her gaze. Vanille was obviously gobsmacked... she only stood there and tried to look at Fang in the eyes in the hope that the latter would grow some and return her gaze.

"Fang, that promise can only be blessed by an elder... you know that..."

Fang looked up at her with a fire in her eyes that even Vanille had never seen.

"I don't care about that old dill. He's not the full quid if he thinks you belong to anyone but me..."

Fang's glance had dropped once more and Vanille noticed that the fire had turned into a plea. She reached up and cupped Fang's face in her hands and raised herself on her toes to kiss her again... upon ending the kiss they both just stood there waiting for their hearts to calm down. The strawberry girl looked up at Fang and held both her hands in her own.

"I promise that we will be together forever... I love you."

For the first time Vanille saw Fang blush... not just any blush but the kind that burns for a few minutes before relentlessly giving into reality. Fang started smiling and laughing, as if her very thoughts were made up of happiness itself.

The raven girl picked the smaller girl up and squeezed her, causing the latter to squeek unintentionally. She sat her down and had a burning excitement in her eyes.

"I hoped you would say that... here I made something for you."

She walked over to her bag in the corner and rummaged around until she found a wooden box that had been carved. There was a symbol of their village, the one of love carved on the lid. She picked it up and looked around at Vanille and smiled.

"Here... I carved it awhile back but I couldn't give it to you...I was being quite a mongrel at the time... "

Vanille smiled at her and took the box. She sat it down on the table and looked at it for a minute or two before turning to Fang.

"We will leave it here until after you have completed your focus... we will come back and fill it with our memories."

The two stood there holding each other's hand, allowing the moment and the oath to settle in.

Fang then looked over at Vanille and smiled.

"What kind of memories do you think we'll have?"

Vanille looked at the box and then up at Fang once more and smiled. She then pulled Fang closer and wrapped her arms around the older girl. Her head was nestled on Fang's chest and Vanille sighed happily.

"It doesn't matter as long as we're together."


	4. The Box

Lightning had become throughout the years, better at navigating the dangerous and elusive Gran Pulse. She had even been studying, along with Hope, the language that Fang and Vanille had known by heart.

There was however, a constant learning curve that neither she nor Hope could ever quite get past. It seemed that no matter how much they learned about the strange world, the more they realized they didn't know.

So the two of them secretly enjoyed being close to death on a regular basis. Lightning did it because she had nothing to really look forward to, and Hope well, she couldn't figure out exactly why he did it. Perhaps Hope also felt he had nothing to live for.

Hope's revelation in Lightning's house opened the door for a deeper friendship. She no longer felt uneasy around him and oddly felt a bond that couldn't quite exist before that moment.

When they entered Oerba village neither she nor Hope knew what they were looking for. More than anything they were looking for some clue as to where they should search to find someone or something that can free their friends.

Light walked over to the building that housed Fang and Vanille's toy robot. She walked inside of the house and realized that everything had a thick layer of dust on it. Just as she was starting to get comfortable Hope walked in and gave a slight smile.

"Find anything?"

She smiled slightly upon hearing the question and continued to look around the room. There really wasn't anything there but somehow she hoped to find something of Fang and Vanille, not for search purposes but because she actually felt the pang of missing them. She glanced back at Hope and went silent for a moment.

"Not yet."

Hope walked over to the window examining the drapes as he always did out of bad habit. Light walked over to a nightstand and picked up a box wiping away the dust that had accumulated over the years. She wiped it off using her hand and saw some weird depiction that her studies had not quite shown her.

It was a beautifully carved box yet was empty. Hope turned around and looked at Light curiously.

"Find anything?"

Lightning glanced up and quickly stashed the box away in her travel pack.

"No...not yet...it's just a box."


	5. Elope

Fang and Vanille once again sat in a room in silence. The apprehension this time was partly a creation of the fact that they were both now fugitives and also because neither knew what they were truly doing in the room together. The maturity of their last time in a room had all but passed, both of the girls had become stupid teenagers once more.

They had both packed up and left a note for the elder of the village. They had run off to a nearby village and didn't know exactly what they were doing at this point. They had used all of their money to rent a shabby room in the village in.

There was only one bed and so the two sat on opposite sides of it, staring at the walls separately. The silence was maddening and it could be seen that both of the teenagers were trying their best to find something interesting to become fascinated with, something to make it seem that they were in control of their own emotions.

After a few minutes of this Fang laughed nervously and looked back at Vanille who was also grinning at the thought of how stupid the two of them truly were being. The raven haired girl had become so anxious that she couldn't quite control the way she was acting, and Vanille had been submissive when she noticed the abrupt change in the older girl.

Fang looked down at her sari and started to rub the fabric, as if there was something on there that required her undivided attention.

She stopped for a moment and raised her head, looking at the curtain and then glancing down again, embarrassingly.

"Maybe I should get ready for bed. You too... we should... or no.. what I mean is."

Fang looked at the wall suddenly and glanced down.

"Uh... you should get ready... then me..."

She sniffed under her arm and then realized that perhaps this wasn't the best place to do that. She could flirt easily with anyone, but somehow Vanille always turned her into a complete mongrel, so she started playing with he sari again and scratched the back of her head.

"... uh... I need a bath."

Vanille looked down and then back again at Fang who was trying desperately to avoid the hole that the young girl was burning with her stare. The young girl did her best to conceal her laughter. This was the first time that she had ever seen Fang act that way. It always seemed that the older girl was in control of things, she was the best hunter in the village after all.

"Yes, you are probably dirty... we should take a bath soon."

Fang could feel her cheeks burn as the smaller girl said that. She just kept staring down at her clothes and closed her eyes for a moment.

"Yes perhaps."

Vanille again looked back at her, smiling slightly and trying to decide the best course of action since the older girl was obviously immobilized by her own stupidity at this point.

She allowed the thoughts to scramble through on how to approach the situation, and couldn't help but feel impowered by girlfriend's lack of control. So she got up and walked over to where Fang was sitting on the bed and got down on her knees, slowly inching her way over to where she had finally parted the older girl completely. Her bare stomach was now pressing up against places Fang really wish it wasn't.

Vanille felt as though she was burning in all the right places... so she put her hands on the older girl's hips and inched herself closer to the raven girl.

"Here let me see."

She leaned in smelled Fang's chest. Then she slowly pushed up and kissed the girl's collar bone.

"Your clothes are dirty...let me...help you.."

The older girl was completely paralyzed as Vanille made the motions to remove her sari. Her hands went through all of the motions of undoing Fang's clothes, and somewhere along the way ripped a piece of it... upon which she quickly threw to the side.

It was quite possible that Fang hadn't taken a single breath for at least ten minutes. Vanille wasn't simply removing her clothes, she was enjoying her new found place of power.

She started with the wrap that went over Fang's shoulder, removing it but making no hesitation in allowing herself to run her hands down Fang's sides.

When the wrap was off and Fang was only in her bra and shorts, she grabbed the older girl again on both of her hips and pulled her pants off, then threw them to the side nonchalant.

All that was left was the bra, so she pushed her legs apart and kissed her on the inner thigh, then looked up with an innocent glare and ran her hands until she had removed the bra completely.

Fang was completely naked and couldn't quite bring herself to look down at the redheaded girl who was between her legs. Her heart was beating a million per minute and she sat there, feeling herself get wet from the young girl's touch.

"Vanille..."

Her strawberry love looked up and stood up enough to push her to the bed in a kiss. It was quite strange how things were turning out, Vanille didn't even know why she was doing what she was doing... or more importantly why Fang wasn't more aggressive.

"Fang...."

The two continued in their embrace. The situation was inverted this time and Vanille's tongue teased the older girl. She then let up for a moment and bit the raven girl's lip, bringing a small amount of blood into the picture. Fang felt a chill run through her body so she motioned the younger girl under the covers, upon which the latter easily obeyed.

Vanille made her way on top of her and Fang moved her hands to remove the girl's shirt. The younger girl picked up on the strained gesture and voluntarily removed the clothing on her own, grabbing her top with both hands and rubbing her body up against the older girl in the process. She then removed the skirt she was wearing and Fang could feel the moisture on her stomach as the young girl straddled her.

The two remained still for a moment... perhaps they were taking in each other's bodies for the first time.

Fang ran her hands up and down the strawberry's sides and Vanille ran her finger from Fang's mouth down to her stomach and kissed her neck softly.

Fang let out a short gasp as Vanille's fingers ran between her legs and as she felt the warmth. The younger girl kissed her stomach and ran tongue from the older girl's thigh up to her belly button. She teased for a moment and looked at the older girl who was still completely immobilized. She ran her hand down to where she shouldn't and hesitated for a moment when she realized how wet Fang had become.

She was in between the older girl's legs and so she kissed her stomach as her small fingers finally tore through. Fang screamed in pain and the young girl couldn't help but moan herself as the action took place. She could feel her hand covered in liquid but didn't stop the motion of feeling her girlfriend from the inside out... even though it was probably blood.

In that moment Vanille was shocked for she realized the reason why Fang was acting so weird. This was their first time... both of them... together.

The Raven girl had her hand's trapped in the beauty's hair, who's pigtails had been pulled out by Fang grabbing in pain.

She looked at Vanille who was completely tied up in fucking her and realized that her moment of weakness had passed, in that moment she had the incredible urge to tear through the young strawberry.

The young girl was hurting her but it didn't matter, somehow the act was beautiful and she wouldn't care if the world burned if the moment could be saved. She didn't want to stop the young girl because she was the only one with the right to bring her either pain or pleasure...

The animal inside of her started to build up anyway and she could feel herself losing control.

She grabbed Vanille's hand and pulled it out, forcing the girl to look her in the eyes.

The beast took over and she got on top of the young girl, her hand made no slow motions as she broke inside the strawberry beauty. She could feel the blood covering her hand. Vanille did nothing, her legs wrapped themselves around Fang's back almost automatically and she could feel her heart beat a million miles an hour as she let her love destroy her.

The raven girl ravaged her young body as tears fell down her face. The older girl was so engrossed in the young girls body that she didn't even notice that she was crying.

She could feel how soft she was, and couldn't pull out even though she knew her young bride was hurting, based on the occasional whimper and moan with every movement.

Finally she finished and kept her hand inside the young girl for quite awhile, her head finally resting on her chest. The young girl looked up at the ceiling and closed her eyes... running her fingers through the older girl's hair. She wished in that moment that she could freeze time forever.

Fang pulled her hand out, causing Vanille to scream, and rested her head upon the strawberry's chest again. The bed was soaked with something.. and the two young women were aching from one another's actions....

Vanille finally lowered her legs from their grasp of the raven girl's back. She allowed her to stay rested on her chest.

The two stayed there, and Fang was the first to fall asleep. Vanille stayed up for a good hour or two more playing with Fang's hair and feeling the drool hit her chest... fixating upon the horrible pain she felt yet loved because of who gave it to her.

In that moment the oath was more than just words. Vanille knew this... so she closed her eyes and allowed herself to feel taken. To allow her eyes to feel the weight of everything yet nothing at all. They both fell asleep in each other's arms. Morning was upon them.


	6. The Morning After

The sun crept into the room through the drapes and pierced onto Vanille's face, she was facing the window, on her side with fang holding onto her from behind. She slowly opened her eyes and then scrunched her forehead once a shot of pain came up from areas she really wished it wouldn't.

"Ow..."

Her words caused Fang to start squirming in her slumber until she had moved in such a way that the light beamed down on her eyes... which caused her to open them as well. Like Vanille her expression quickly turned sour.

"Ouch..."

The two lay there for a moment when Vanille started to giggle which in turn caused Fang to chuckle. The latter then turned to the strawberry beauty and looked at her as the sun beamed down illuminating her hair. She slowly leaned in and kissed her causing the young girl to smile happily.

The raven girl just laid there and ran her fingers through the girls hair with a worried expression on her face.

"I'm sorry I hurt you."

Vanille looked at her brushing away a piece of hair that had fallen in Fang's face. She sighed and closed her eyes.

"I'm sorry I hurt you too."

Fang glanced up like a child caught in the act of stealing cookies from the kitchen. She quickly propped her head up with her arm and looked at Vanille embarrassingly.

"You didn't..."

Vanille just stared at her for a moment and then got a smirk on her face.

"The first thing that came out of your mouth this morning was ouch, you're so full of it."

Fang looked at Vanille and bit her lip.

"No really, you honestly think that this would hurt me? It's you. I've killed beasts with my own hands... this was.... not...."

She stopped mid sentence and closed her eyes. Her face scrunched when she felt another shot of pain from the southern hemisphere. Vanille noticed this and looked at the older girl smiling sarcastically.

"Oh really? Yes, what was I thinking? It is me after all... I forgot how strong you are."

Fang looked up at her and sighed.

"Yes well, one of these days... you'll be strong like me."

She patted Vanille's head and then turned on her back and held her head and tried to think happy thoughts as the throbbing continued.

Vanille continued to stare at the older girl who didn't even seem to notice. She then giggled which caused the older girl to turn her head slowly with a 'what now?' stare.

"Since you're not hurting why don't we have another go at it?"

She got on top of Fang and proceeded to put her hand between the older girl's legs... who then quickly reacted and grabbed the smaller girl's arm.

"No, ok. It does hurt...stop it..."

She just closed her eyes in defeat and Vanille smiled victoriously. The strawberry got off of her and up from bed. Fang got up and sat on the ledge of the bed looking back at Vanille who was starting a bath for the two of them. Her eyes dropped down to the sheets where blood had accumulated over the course of the night. She then looked down at herself and saw all of the blood on herself, she thought of how much Vanille must be hurting as well.

"Vanille..."

Vanille could barely hear what Fang said through the running water so she walked away from the bath for a moment and over to where Fang was sitting, quickly drawing her eyes to the sheets that Fang had uncovered. Vanille tilted her head to the side and smiled at Fang who was throwing her a strange look.

"Thank you for letting me have you."

Fang's eyes were lowered and Vanille started to bite her fingernails as if in conflict as to how to respond. She looked at Fang who in the course of the last few days surprised her in how gentle she could be. She looked at Fang and felt happy that she had been her first, so she walked over to the bed and sat down beside Fang, placing her hands on top of the older girl's.

"Fang... last night...I thought that you had... y'know done this before...I wasn't expecting you to scream like that."

Fang looked at the young girl agape and could feel the blush burning her face. She scratched the back of her hair and quickly looked down again at the floor away from Vanille's line of sight. The burn wouldn't let go. Vanille noticed this and started to giggle.

The raven girl couldn't help but smile herself and looked back up at the young girl and smiled. She then realized again that Vanille was still naked and so she leaned in and kissed her chest. She then rested her head in the girl's lap and looked at the wall.

"I never did... because... I couldn't imagine myself with anyone but you. I tried kissing a few girls... even a few boys... but my mind always wandered to thinking of what you might be doing... or who... then I got jealous and left every time and hurried home.. I would always have these crazy imaginings of what the two of you might be doing and how I would burst through the door and give some mozzie a good thrashing...and then end the night victoriously with you in my arms."

Fang looked up at Vanille and smiled at the revelation. Vanille just sat there and smiled sweetly as Fang continued on her monologue.

"When I would finally end up home you'd be asleep or cooking and I would feel stupid yet somehow relieved. Not the just the fact that you weren't doing the naughty with anyone but that I wasn't as well. So now I don't know what I'm doing... I'm sorry."

Vanille looked at Fang and smiled allowing the latter's fear to melt away.

"It's ok it was mine too."

Fang looked at her for a moment almost expecting her to add to the previous statement. When she noticed again that Vanille wasn't adding to it she looked at the wall as Vanille played with her hair. She then sat up and looked at the Vanille.

"Why didn't you scream? You didn't make any noise at all. I'm such a ratbag ."

Vanille just looked at her in disbelief and she then pinched the older girls nipple causing the latter to yell. Fang looked at her like a hurt puppy.

"Ouch! What was that for?"

Vanille had a furious look on her face that caused Fang to have her hands in a defensive pose.

"I was crying you mongrel. You didn't notice?"

Fang looked at her and seemed embarrassed at her lack of noticing such important details.

"Um...."

Vanille crossed her arms and Fang wished that she could run away. The two sat there like that until the expression on Vanille's face had softened. Fang then looked at the younger girl and held her hands again.

"I didn't realize you were crying... I'm really sorry... it's just that you... felt...nice..."

The older girl seemed to get caught up in her own thoughts and closed her eyes smiling.

"Mmmm yes...nice..."

Vanille couldn't help but laugh at the older girl and she then wrapped her arms around the raven girl.

"Well thanks to you, I certainly won't be marrying Moon now."

The comment made Fang sigh and she looked at the blood spot again and looked up at Vanille who met her worried glance.

"Vanille, there's really no going back now... to Oerba..."

The young girl continued to embrace the older girl and squeezed tighter.

"We have to go back... you know that. You haven't completed the ritual for your focus... and it doesn't matter anyway.."

The young girl then looked up at Fang.

"I won't marry him... I'm yours now... and even if they throw me in jail you'd still get me out and save me right?"

She smiled and her eyes made Fang blush slightly. She leaned in and gave the older girl a kiss and Fang looked at her for a moment before speaking.

"It doesn't matter where you run off to I'll always find you. I have to make sure you keep your promise y'know?"

"Me too."

Vanille then let go of the older girl and looked down at her legs that had dried blood on them.

"Come, now you really do need a bath."

Fang nodded and the two got up and walked over to the bathtub that had by this time almost filled up. They both got in and relaxed into the warm water... Fang wrapped her arms around the smaller girl who was sitting in front of her and kissed her back. The two sat there like that until getting the courage to finish bathing.

"Let's finish missy, we have a long day ahead of us."


	7. Horizon

There wasn't anything that could be found anywhere in the world more beautiful than a sunset on Gran Pulse. As Hope and Lightning made their camp the latter couldn't help but stop for a moment, taking in the swirls of red and orange that dominated the sky.

The wind danced in her hair as she stood there looking at the beauty found in the Gran Pulse landscape. The light reflected off of her eyes and her mouth was slightly agape at the sight.

"It's beautiful isn't it?"

Lightning had been so caught up in the moment that she hadn't even noticed that Hope had finished putting the tent up and had been standing beside her. He looked at her with a slight smile and the wind blew the hair in his face. She just looked at him and then back at the horizon.

"Yes it is."

The two just stood there and allowed, if only for a moment, to become one with the world. The air was cool and seemed to pass right through them as it made its way into the universe. Hope looked up at the sky that had slowly started to submit to darkness, the stars dancing on the heels of daylight.

"When I am old and grey I think I will look back on these days and they will be my favorite."

Lightning looked at him and managed to crack a smile.

"But I thought you were already grey?"

He looked at her astonished that she had told a joke, and on top of that one that was mildly funny. He then looked back at the horizon and crossed his arms.

"Well with jokes like that maybe my hair will turn black."

He gave her a wink and she just smiled at him resuming her position of looking onto the horizon. The two just stood there for a few minutes and Hope had even closed his eyes.

"They will be my favorite as well, thank you for coming with me."

Without looking up she took his hand in hers and they continued to stand there taking in the scenery. Tomorrow they would travel to the citadel where ancient texts spoke of l'cie secrets, so for at least a moment the two forgot everything that they had worked so hard to remember, and without protest watched as the sun finally hid it's face beyond the horizon.


	8. The suffocating

On the horizon the Citadel shot out like a mountain that seemed out of place. It wasn't the same design as most churches and looked more like a rock than a place of holy breeding.

Both Lightning and Hope stopped at the top of a cliff that was overlooking the land upon which the citadel rested upon and seemed to both be analyzing exactly what it was they were getting themselves into.

"Here hold this."

Light handed Hope her weapon as she began to climb down the rocky ledge and began the descent leading to their destination. Hope seemed taken aback although he knew that when Light decided to be leader there was nothing anyone could do.

"Wait up you crazy girl."

Light stopped for a moment and looked up at him pretending she didn't hear what he said.

"What's that?"

Hope noticed this but pretended not to hear.. slowly placing her weapon in his bag as if she hadn't even asked a question. Finally he looked up to meet her gaze and let off a realistic 'huh?'.

"Sorry what was that?"

He looked at her and she noticed the smirk that couldn't help but form itself at his lips. She rolled her eyes and continued down the ledge.

"Never-mind."

Once the two of them had made their way down the ledge they looked up at the enormous structure that stood between the two of them.

"Wow."

Hope's awe at the sight seemed to betray his masculine features. For at least a moment he was a little boy again, amazed at seeing something so spectacular. Lightning looked at him and smiled at his momentary innocence.

"Yes...wow."

They both looked up at the structure that seemed to be made of rock yet holding itself without any clear structure.

"Shall we?"

Light looked at Hope and motioned him to enter along with her... this time he took her hand and the two entered into unknown territory.


	9. Homecoming

Chapter Nine- Homecoming

Fang and Vanille walked back to the village that a few days earlier made them run. As they walked along the best known road it seemed as if each of the girl's steps slowed, both of them didn't want to know the outcome of their actions.

Fang walked up to Vanille and grabbed her arm and pulled her close, stopping the latter in her tracks. She held onto the girl as if it was the last she'd ever get to.

"Vanille... if they try and take you away I swear those snags won't make it long enough for me to get angry."

Vanille pried herself from the older girl's arms and looked up at her, the tears welling up as she tried to hold them back. She then nuzzled her face in the older girl's chest.

Fang was by this time used to Vanille's crying sprees and usually would have taken it without much thought, this time however, she allowed a tear to fall from her own.

"I won't let anything happen to you... I won't let you get married. You're mine and I will tear down the sky to keep it that way."

Upon hearing those words Vanille looked up at the older girl and kissed her with a burning love that can only exist when one knows the love may not be there tomorrow. The hot kiss lasted for a few minutes and Vanille broke it off resuming her position on the older's girls chest. She squeezed tightly and could feel her face burning.

"Please don't... I don't want anyone to touch me but you."

Fang closed her eyes upon hearing these words and held the girl tighter than she knew she could. She kissed the top of the younger girl's head and could feel the heat of fear rushing through her body.

"I won't let anyone touch you but me... I promise."

The two stayed in their embrace for a few minutes when Fang slowly pushed the young girl off...grabbing her hand and leading her down the path that they both wish didn't exist.

The two girls slowly walked into their village and stopped at the gates trying to decide whether they should enter or run away. They knew that if she didn't enter and finish her ceremony Fang would become a corpse anyway, so the two of them slowly entered the village hand in hand...prepared to take on the world.

As soon as the two girls walked through the gate all of the clan members stopped in their tracks and stopped whatever activities they were involved in.

Suddenly a female voice came from the side causing Fang and Vanille to dart their focus in that direction.

"Fang! Vanille! I am so happy you're alive!"

The wife of elder stone rushing towards them. She quickly grabbed Vanille and kissed her as an aunt would upon seeing a child after many years. The young girl didn't know what to think of this and froze up like she had been shocked by lightning.

The old woman let go of the strawberry beauty and looked at Fang who was looking down at her feet. The raven youth couldn't quite bring herself to look the elder in the eyes.

The older woman then slapped the youth and the latter just stood there gobsmacked.

"Look at me you fool! What is wrong with you? Taking Vanille off to where only the gods know. We thought you two were dead!"

Fang looked at her in shock and held her face in her hands. She looked at the older woman and could see the fury and disappointment in her eyes. She felt her body become hot and the burn could be a seen a mile away.

"I won't have her marrying anyone but me!"

Fang's voice cracked with tears as she screamed and everyone in the village was looking at them. The elder's wife just looked at how she had tears in her eyes and her features seemed to soften.

"Come child, she won't."

The latter took Fang's hand and the two made their way over to the town square. She motioned one of the guards to get the elder. The older girl stood with tears in her eyes and looked at Vanille who had begun to cry, sniffling with her chest heaving from restrained tears.

The elder's wife noticed this and let go of the teen's hand...upon which the latter fled to her girlfriend's arms. They held onto each other and it would have taken the jaws of life to pry them loose.

The elder came out of his house and within the span of about ten minutes half the village had also gathered around the two women.

He looked at the two girls who stood there holding onto each other for dear life, both eyeing him in weariness. He smiled at the sight because in all honesty it was quite comical.

"I am very glad to see you two... I have told Moon to bring me the Xuen powders."

Fang and Vanille looked at each other with worried expressions. Fang let go of her and stood up in a defensive stance.

"No! I know what you're doing! You're going to marry her off to that ratbag and I won't let you! I don't care if I die in the process!"

Fang was fuming and the younger girl was hiding behind her. The elder just looked at the two and then at Moon that had walked up from behind him. He didn't even react to Fang's heated monologue.

"Here... yes... thank you Moon."

The young man that was supposed to marry Vanille brought the powders and looked at her with a disappointed look on his face.

The village elder opened the vial and grabbed Fang's hand, the youth just looked down and a bead of sweat dripped from her forehead, bringing attention to the flushed cheeks that had formed. He then sprinkled some of it in her hand.

"Yes there you foolish child...give it to your bride."

Fang looked at him and then at Vanille.

"I don't.. I don't... understan-"

The elder raised his hand quieting the girl.

"Yes you do. If you don't hurry I may just change my mind."

The elder looked at the youth with a slight smile on his face as the teen looked at him and then scrambled to find Vanille's hand to put it in. She had Vanille's hand and sprinkled the powder onto it, both of her hands shaking.

"Now you know the promise... so tell me when you're ready."

The two youths nodded in disbelief alerting the elder that they were ready to begin. Fang looked at Vanille and she was sweating, her whole body felt it was on fire. The younger girl couldn't help but move a strand of hair that had stuck itself to Fang's face. She gave a sigh and looked at Vanille who's sweet look made her feel calm enough to speak.

"I want you to promise me... from this day forward... that you Fang will never be separated or abandon Vanille, in both illness and happiness forever..."

Fang looked at Vanille and smiled, looking down.

"I promise."

The elder then turned his attention away from Fang and looked at Vanille.

"Now Vanille, I want you to promise me...from this day forward you will give yourself to Fang in anyway she needs you and will not be separated or abandon Fang, in both illness and happiness forever."

Vanille blushed and looked down and briefly looked up to catch Fang's embarrassed stare.

"I promise."

The elder then took what was left of the dust in the vial and sprinkled it over the two girls.

"From this moment forward you are now one... and because of this no man ...or in this case woman shall try and steal either of you away."

The elder looked over at Moon and gave a 'sorry kid' stare. The latter walked away through the crowd and disappeared into obscurity. The elder turned back to Fang and his face suddenly turned very serious, the expressions looking as if they belonged to a stone.. which was how he got his name to begin with.

"You scared us half to death. Fang, Vanille... if we had known you were in love with each other I would have never arranged the engagement...you are the best hunter in the village and on top of that our l'cie. You have first dibs on anyone in the village you want... idiotic child. If it wasn't for Vanille I don't know how you'd even survive."

Vanille just held onto Fang and the latter closed her eyes and smelled the young girl's hair. She let go and then looked at the elder and then walked up to him and fell to her knees and kissed the ground, which was a sign of absolute respect in their culture.

"Thank you child, you may rise."

The teen got on her feet and then walked back over to where Vanille stood who was being hugged by everyone and congratulated.

The rest of the crowd began to disperse, shaking their hands and giving their blessings to the two young women. Elder Stone turned and made his way back to his house but turned around on the balls of his feet, facing the two girls.

"We love you both... all of us... the village."

He then smiled and looked at Fang who was standing with her shoulder's thrown back in pride, holding Vanille's hip. He smiled and looked at them.

"By the way Fang, The Xuen room is yours for the week."

He winked and threw the keys to Fang who had trouble catching them. He then turned and walked away and the two girls just looked at each other... not knowing exactly what just happened.


	10. Crystal Blue

Chapter Ten- Crystal Blue

Hope walked into the large structure still holding onto Light's hand, who had by this time started to sweat. They walked through the corridor and the wind blew upon both of them causing them to shiver. The air had the scent of an old mosque that hadn't seen the light of day in hundreds of years, still clinging to the dead that rest there.

They stopped for a moment taking in the sight they saw before them, the most beautiful blue crystal structures that could be imagined. Every staircase and even the tiles were a bright blue and lit up the otherwise morbid structure.

"Oh shit...."

Lightning let go of his hand and stood in awe at the sight in front of her. Hope was equally dumbfounded at what he saw and stood there looking at it alongside her.

"Wow... this is.... amazing."

The two slowly made their way through the structure and the light illuminated both of their eyes as they gasped at the detail that surrounded them. The most amazing of which happened to be carvings that were absolutely gorgeous in the amount of detail.

They came upon many different statues, all of which had an X placed on where the l'cie mark would have normally been. They walked through the hall that was massive in size ,both stopping dead in their tracks, looking at the statues of two very familiar figures.

"Fang....and Vanille..."

Although Lightning stated the obvious both her and Hope were too gobsmacked to even notice the obvious "duh" moment. Hope just looked up with his mouth agape.

"But why?"

He looked at lightning and threw her a 'what the hell?' look. Light looked over at him and could only look at the statues trying to roll over in her mind what it could all mean.

"I'm not sure.... look at them though.... in these.... it seems...."

She tilted her head and moved closer to the statues, reaching out her hand and accidentally touching Vanille's crystallized chest.

"Uh... umm..."

She quickly withdrew her hand and looked embarrassingly at the young man who had a smirk on his face. The burn of a blush was on her face and she looked down for a moment gain her composure.

"It seems that their l'cie marks have been replaced by X. They are also hand in hand and seem to have a calm look on their faces..."

Her face returned to its normal stoic expression and she forced, quite convincingly that all the embarrassment from the previous moment had passed. Hope just looked at her and then scrunched his forehead as he looked back at the two carvings.

"What do you think it means?"

His eyes were questioning and Light just looked at the statues for a few moments and seemed to fall deep into thought. He kept looking over at her in the expectation that she might have all the answers. She then opened her eyes and began walking away from the statues.

"I'm not sure, lets continue forward... standing her won't answer any of our questions."

He nodded and they both continued through the room and began to walk up the stairs that seemed to spiral forever into the heavens.


	11. Tomorrow

Chapter Eleven- Tomorrow

The two young newlyweds enjoyed a few relaxing days in the Xuen room. The same room that was constantly prepped for the new couples of the village to enjoy their honeymoons.

The room was elegant and every table and chair was beautifully carved with the village symbol of love, similar to the one found on the gift Fang gave Vanille. Every morning they awoke to gifts of food and items from the villagers.

The two of them hadn't been with one another since the last time, mainly out of pain and the need to heal. It had already been almost a week and the two girls seemed to be in love with the knowledge that they were indeed going be together till death do them part.

Fang had been in the main area of the house practicing with the new red spear that she had received as a blessing gift. It was a gift from elder Stone who had told her she would need it when she attempted to protect Vanille. He also gave Vanille a weapon and informed her she would need it when "that idiot child" did something stupid.

The strong youth had been playing with her new toy for the last few days and Vanille would glance up occasionally and smile at how silly Fang was when presented with something new. The older girl was busy practicing and didn't seem to notice that she was secretly being made fun of by her new bride.

It was getting late and Vanille was sifting through all of the gifts that the village had given them. She squeaked happily when she opened one of the packages finding a new skirt that was made from a rare hide. Fang stopped for a moment and looked at the girl who jumped up suddenly.

"What? What is it!?"

Vanille just held the skirt up and smiled at Fang who was looking at her curiously.

"Isn't it cute?"

Fang just looked at her and rolled her eyes and then resumed practicing with her spear. The strawberry girl frowned when she noticed how Fang didn't comment on the skirt, so she stomped over to the bed and plopped down. She then turned on her back and looked up at the ceiling.

Fang had stopped for a moment and sat down in a chair and began sharpening a knife that was sitting on the coffee table. She was out of breath and sweat had accumulated on her brow. She stopped for a moment and looked at the young girl who was reading a book she had found on the bed.

"Vanille..."

She called out and the young girl turned her head the the direction of Fang's voice.

"I can't believe you're really mine."

She smiled and then looked down at the stone and continued to sharpen the knife. Vanille looked at the her and smiled, closing the book she was reading. She watched the fluid movements of the older girl as she sharpened the blade, and how her toned arms reminded her of some swift animal.

She turned and looked up at the ceiling, stretching her arms up above her head, allowing her stomach to be bare. She smiled deviously as a mischievous thought popped into her head. She moaned slightly and peeked from the corner of her eye to see if Fang noticed...which she hadn't.

"Oh these clothes are very uncomfortable...it's unsafe to have them on for much longer."

She turned again to look at Fang who was still sharpening the knife. The raven girl didn't even seem to notice her and so she couldn't help but frown. She then glared at the naive girl who was still completely engrossed in sharpening the blade.

"I hate the way these things are..."

Fang glanced up and caught site of Vanille's stomach and could feel a burn in the pit of her stomach, so she quickly looked down again and the knife seemed to blur on the edges.

Vanille got up and walked in front of where Fang was working, she bent over and began untying her boots. The raven girl glanced up from the corner of her eye and could see under the strawberry's skirt. She bit her lip and felt a bead of sweat run down her face.

"Yes.... they are....bad...."

She held the knife limp in her hand, Vanille looked back innocently still bent over and then raised slowly. She then slowly removed her shirt, with her back to the older girl.

Fang dropped the knife and Vanille glanced back and giggled. The older girl scrambled to pick it up but stopped when Vanille walked over to where she was. She stood in front of her topless and pressed the older girl's lips against her bare stomach.

Fang kissed her and ran her lips across her pale skin, her hands found their way under Vanille's skirt and she looked up at the young girl and slowly pulled it down. The skirt dropped to the floor and Vanille stepped out of it. Fang was still sitting and Vanille pushed her back in the chair, got on her lap and then straddled her, her chest touching the older girl's face. Fang looked up and gasped as the young girl put her hands under her sari.

She couldn't take it anymore, with fire in her eyes she picked Vanille up and carried her to the bed. The younger girl had her arms wrapped around Fang's neck as the latter pushed her down. She wrapped her legs around the older girl and their lips met in a burning kiss.

After a few minutes Fang broke it off and started kissing Vanille's neck furiously. The strawberry beauty could barely take a breath. She lowered her legs and pushed Fang off and looked up at her.

"...please...take it off..."

The older girl got up and fumbled impatiently to take off all her clothes. When she was done she grabbed the young girls hands and pinned them with her left arm above the strawberry's head.

She continued to kiss Vanille and let go of her hands and moved down lower to kiss the younger girl's stomach. Vanille could feel a burning ache in her lower body, so she pushed Fang's head lower. The older girl looked up with a shocked and sarcastic smile on her face.

"Naughty girl."

Vanille's hands were grabbing the raven's hair and she closed her eyes and pushed again.

"I ....love you.... please..."

Fang kissed her stomach and then slowly moved until her head was between the strawberry's legs. She ran her tongue down and could feel the heat rush through as her tongue went inside the girl's soft body. Vanille tasted salty. Fang liked salty things and couldn't help but moan as she felt the warm substance enter her mouth.

Vanille grabbed her hair even harder when she felt the older girl's tongue inside of her. She looked down and her back arched involuntarily as the Fang moved her tongue in ways neither of them could imagine.

"Oh......Fang..."

Fang could feel the young girl's body start to tense and felt the gasps in between movements. She stopped for a moment and moved up a bit and kissed the girl's stomach once more.

The raven beast couldn't help her halfway smile as her hand made it's way down to the strawberry treat, entering for a second time. Vanille's back arched again and she couldn't help but scream.

She felt as one might when jumping off of a high place, she wanted desperately to push the older girl off, but the latter had her pinned down with her left arm. She felt herself throbbing and Fang pushed harder with every moan that came from the beautiful girl.

Finally she could feel her body clamp down on Fang's fingers and the latter felt the wet rush that came along with it. She pulled out and let go of the young girl's hands who then quickly went to cover her burning cheeks. She then fell on her back and laid there next to Vanille who was still trying to catch her breath.

The young girl finally took her hands off of her face and cupped her mouth, the redness in her face slowly disappeared. Fang turned on her side and started to play with the younger girl's hair... she inched closer and was about to kiss Vanille when the latter pushed her face away. She looked at the older girl and frowned.

"Go rinse your mouth."

Fang looked at her embarrassingly and seemed to be waiting for her young bride to say something, anything at all. Vanille instead closed her eyes and had a relaxed smile on her face, seemingly forgetting the girl that laid beside her.

Fang pouted and let out an irritated grunt. She pushed herself out of bed and stomped over to where the sink was located.

She brushed her teeth and rinsed her face patting it dry with a towel. She then looked in the mirror and tried to smooth the hair that had been completely destroyed by Vanille's fingers of fury.

She walked back over to the bed and Vanille was completely passed out. She just stood there for a moment in disbelief.

"Aww cmon' Vanille! What about me?"

She walked over to the bed and spread the blanket over the girl who was holding her arms in a shiver. She got under the covers and wrapped herself around the girl's waist. She leaned in and smelled Vanille's hair, smiling.

"Spoiled rotten."

Vanille stirred and smiled and then opened her eyes and turned to look at Fang. She turned around and placed her hand on Fang's hip and ran her hands softly up and down her side.

"I'm sorry.....but I feel like my body has melted.... "

Fang looked at her and smiled and leaned in and met the girl in a soft kiss. She then pulled away and just stared at her for a moment, playing with the red locks that fell into the girl's face.

"It's ok.... I just feel... a little...achy is all...but if you're too relaxed that's a good thing.... in a few days our life is going to be a shit rider...."

Vanille's expression turned morbid when Fang spoke and she averted her eyes. She then closed them and sighed as if in deep thought. She opened her eyes slightly, catching Fang's worried face.

"Fang, I wish you hadn't of become l'cie..."

She closed her eyes again and a tear slowly made it's way from her eye onto her nose. Fang wiped it away and sighed, kissing the tip of her nose.

"Please don't cry, I did this for you....and everyone... I love you."

Vanille looked at her and rubbed her eyes...her face turning red as she continued to cry. The older girl ran her fingers along the strawberry's arm.

"When we're done with all of this I promise we'll run away together and.... we'll have a house... I'll build one... like Star and Pond have....by ourselves...and....I'll..."

The raven girl stopped running her fingers and then looked down at the girl who had stopped crying for a moment.

"I'll do anything you want...whenever you want me to."

Vanille let out a few sniffles and then looked at Fang with a mischievous smile in between sobs.

"Anything?"

Fang eyed her cautiously and swallowed, squinting her eyes trying to figure out what the girl was up to. She was always so secretive and it was hard for Fang to tell exactly what the girl had up her sleeve at all times.

"Yes...almost...anything."

Vanille smiled and then gave Fang a quick peck on the lips. The strawberry looked at the older girl and placed her hand on her chest, running her finger's along the nip. She glanced up and smiled at Fang's suspicious stare.

"You know. We'd have really cute kids...."

She closed her eyes and grinned, basking in thought of freaking out the older girl. Fang just looked at her with her mouth wide open, confused and worried at the same time.

"Well kid, that sounds very lovely but I don't think that's possible..in that way, and I don't want to adopt any brats like us from the orphanage either."

Vanille opened her eyes and then tilted her head looking at her. She pinched Fang's arm and kept smiling at the older girl.

"Fang, If you have Ragnarok you know very well it doesn't make a difference... you just don't like children."

She curled her lips in a pout. The raven girl just looked at her and smiled embarrassingly, having hoped Vanille would have forgot that lesson from their earlier youth.

"I know... I'm just bad with kids... but....I love you and if I survive all this I will do anything if it makes you happy."

Vanille smiled and then kissed her softly. She then inched closer kissing the older girl's chest and pushed her face against it.

"You're really cute when you're nervous. I'm not being serious though, you really are quite bad with children."

Fang chuckled and ran her fingers through the young girl's hair, kissing her head.

"Brat."

Vanille smiled and felt herself drift into sleep as Fang continued to play with her hair.


	12. Camp

The staircase seemed to stretch forever into the sky, and both Light and Hope were growing extremely tired from the long ascent.

Light had been until this moment, commander in chief... fearlessly pushing forward with little regard to her friend and companion whose lungs seemed to be at near collapse.

At last she couldn't help but stop, her body started to go weak at the excessive amount of strength the last few hours had seeped from her. Upon reaching a floor that had a nice flat she fell to her knees and stopped for a moment to catch her breath. Hope put his hands on his knees and looked at the crazy woman, and for a moment tried to say something between gasps.

"Lady Light, please..... shit...."

He spit onto the ground and stood up, lifting his head into the air as if the upward position would help him regain his breath.

"Shit woman, let's camp here for the night. You're crazy... so I say....no... I have decided that we shall stop... now...."

Lightning looked up at him and was too out of breath to resist so she allowed her body to limp against the ground. She fell on her stomach and had her face against the cold tile, which glowed and sharpened her beautiful features.

"Fine."

Hope fell to the floor and nodded in agreement. The two sat there for a moment until they were no longer out of breath. Hope sat and looked around the space trying to see if anything interesting existed, Light stayed face down on the tile, feeling her cheek go numb as she fell into silence.

"Here.... seems strange but let me make camp."

He got up and started to take the camping supplies out the bag which he unfairly got to carry the bulk of on their adventures. He had bulked up through it all, and in all honesty could handle it... but either way he sometimes wanted to make the fearless leader carry the 70 lb. pack.

Light turned over and propped her head up on her arm and watched him as he assembled their sleeping quarters, and even had the audacity to yawn as he struggle with the preparations.

"You want to help?"

He glanced back at her and she slowly rose to her feet... not because she wanted to, but because the lack of doing so would make her seem like an ass.

"Ok."

She looked at Hope and seemed to be drifting in and out herself. He looked at her and realized just how exhausted the poor girl was. He twitched and a frown formed on his face.

"Don't worry about it... just get our bed ready."

He looked at her and continued to finish the camp. When he was done he hadn't even noticed that she had again sat down, this time laying down completely... asleep...

"Oh...lazy."

He walked over to her and picked her up in his arms, carrying her to the tent that he had just put up. He put her down and covered her with the blanket that she had so heroically carried till this point. She was dead asleep and he couldn't help but look at her for a moment, brushing the hair from her face.

"I'm not a little boy anymore... I wish you could see that."

He had his hand on her face and looked at her... she squirmed in the bed and then opened her sleepy eyes and looked at him.

"I know that. Now will you just leave me alone and come to bed."

He looked at her and was in shock for a moment and made robotic motions to do as she said, quickly crawling into bed and wrapping his arms around her. She pushed his arm off and the two were in silence until Light started to squirm in discomfort, and then sighed in irritation.

"Hey Hope?"

The young man opened his eyes and moved closer to the woman to hear what she was about to say.

"Can you take your boyhood somewhere else."

He quickly jumped up from bed and looked down at the woman who didn't even seem to flinch from his departure. She wrapped herself up in the one blanket like it was her own personal cocoon.

He looked at her and realized after about ten minutes that she had fallen asleep without much to say after that... so he fell asleep in the corner... wishing his anatomy wouldn't have betrayed him quite so soon.


	13. Lope

Hope and Light had packed up their camp and started their journey once more to the top of the citadel. Neither one had spoken much since last night and Hope couldn't seem to bring his line of sight much higher than his shoes.

Lightning quickly caught on to the discomfort and stopped and sat down on one of the steps leading into the sky.

"Stop."

Hope looked at the woman and then obeyed and sat down, removing his heavy pack and placing it on the step below him.

"Ok..."

He looked at her and a pained expression came to his face, trying desperately to find any emotion in her expressions.

She looked at him and then rested her eyes on the steps below. She shook her feet for a moment before letting out a long sigh. He looked at her and could feel his chest burning, realizing that there was and always would be a barrier between the two.

He looked down at his boots and pulled on the straps...he could feel the sweat on his brow, and the heat beneath his coat seemed to consume him. He looked at the woman and sighed...again playing with his shoes.

"Light....Lady Light.... I hope one day you will talk to me, I only do all of this because I care about you."

She looked ahead and fixed her eyes on one of the blue crystals and closed her eyes and sighed. She bit her chapped lips and let go realizing she really didn't care. The young man looked at her again and a small frown found it's way on his face. She looked at him and then again fixed her eyes on the crystal structure.

"Yes, sorry."

The young man looked at her as if he had been struck with a meteor shower. He waited for a moment and swallowed, to clear his throat of any inconsistencies.

"I wish you'd talk to me...I'm not such a bad man."

Light continued to look down at the steps and her feet... she then got up and walked up a few steps, looking up and around, resting her eyes on everything yet nothing at all.

"You're a little boy."

She looked down at her boots and fastened her grip on her weapon, drawing it slowly and eyeing the blue light on the wall.

She walked down to where there was a carving on the wall. She stopped and ran her hand across the design, trying in her best to remember what in the hell it even meant. She then glanced back at the young man who was still staring at his boots, depressed. She stopped for a moment and looked at him, not with pity but interest in how the young boy had grown into a man, even though a large part of he wished he hadn't.

"No you're not a little boy are you. You grew up suddenly it seems.."

She closed her eyes and sighed.

"One of these days you'll fall in love and leave like Serah did, you're still Hope..."

He got up and walked down to where she was standing and put his hand on her shoulder and smiled.

"I won't ever leave you. I can't fall in love with anyone if I'm busy being in love with you lady Light."

His face had a pained expression and she winced at the feeling it caused inside her. A great sense of guilt rose up in the pit of her stomach. She brushed his hand off and walked back up to the step and sat down. He just watched her broken hearted, feeling as if there must be something wrong with him. She closed her eyes and crossed her arms as the cool air made her shiver.

"I don't want you to be in love with me."

She continued to sit there and he just stood immobilized by what she was saying.

"I once had a girlfriend...in military training. She left me too."

She shivered and bit her lip again.

"I can't...not with you. You're Hope. Little Hope... it's just wrong."

She looked at Hope who had at this point lost all ability to comprehend, much less respond to his love interest's revelations. He walked up and sat down with automated movements.

"I'm sorry."

He looked at her and then averted his eyes away from her as the tears started to well up. He looked at his surroundings and wished at the moment that he could fly away. The two sat there for over an hour without speaking, then he got up and looked down at at her and brushed his hand against her face, which inadvertently caused her to blush.

"I know you say that what you're looking for doesn't include men but.... I'm not a man."

He grabbed the pack that he had placed on the step and moved to hasten the strap.

"I'm a little boy... remember?... so with that being said I will continue to try and woo you. I will chase you till I have no more chase inside of me. At that moment we will both fall in love and have many children...one of which will be name Hightling.... the other.... well...Lope.... which is what we will do when you fall in love with me."

Lightning looked up at him and rolled her eyes...the poor boy didn't understand. He extended his hand to her and she grabbed it and the two got up and continued to climb the seemingly endless staircase.


	14. Goodbye

Chapter Thirteen- Off to Focus

The week in the Xuen room finally came to a close and the two girls were in the room packing their life into whatever the two of them could carry.

Vanille would pack too many things and Fang would have to sort through and hide useless items that she knew they didn't need. The younger girl noticed this and would go in after she knew Fang wasn't looking and sneak a few of her favorite items back into the older girl's pack.

They finally finished packing and just stood there in the room and looked around. Neither one of could bring themselves to speak. Fang finally snuck up behind Vanille and wrapped her arms around her, squeezing her tightly.

"Did you make my pack heavy enough with you're beads and lipstick?"

The strawberry girl giggled and pried the older girls arms loose and turned, kissing her on her cheek.

"Yes I think I did."

Fang gave a halfway grin and grabbed the younger girl's hand.

"Well kid, we'd better get going eh?"

The young girl nodded and they picked up their packs and made their way out of the Xuen room.

As soon as they walked outside the villagers took notice and started gathering in the town square. Even the children were dragged along, kicking and screaming, to greet the young women as they departed.

The elder and his wife walked out of their house and slowly over to where the two girls stood. A little boy ran up to Fang and grabbed her leg crying.

"Fanga, don't leave me. I wuv you Fanga."

The older girl crouched down and looked at the small boy and then wiped one of his tears away.

"Don't cry, you'll always be my little monster. You're the man of the village, if you cry who will be left to take care of all the pretty girls."

He stopped crying and held back a few sniffles. She winked at him and rose slowly looking at Moon who was standing there. She smiled and walked over to him extending her hand... upon which he took and gave a hearty shake.

"Take care of Vanille."

She smiled and nodded and then turned over to the elder and his wife. Vanille just watched as she saw the exchange take place... Fang wasn't one for having too much emotion.

The elder came up to Fang and smiled and gave her a hug, the raven girl hugged him as well and felt a horrible pain in the middle of her chest. She drew back and looked at him with tears in her eyes and looked down. He too had allowed himself to well up during the exchange, which was rare if not non-existent for the older man.

"You're like me you know that? When I was young. When you come back I want you both to come over for dinner... take care of Vanille...be careful with that spear as well... it was my fathers."

She smiled at him and then reached out and grabbed Vanille's hand. The two made their way out of the village, glancing back to see the final image of all of their family watching them as they departed.


	15. Anima

The citadel pierced through the clouds, its ominous shape protruding forever into an endless sky.

The two young girls look up at the massive structure, clasping each other's hands in a desperate attempt at feeling safe.

They both look continued to look up at the Babel as it seemed to lift forever into the sky. Fang looked over at Vanille who had a pained expression on her face and she couldn't help but feel the same way.

"Vanille...."

The young girl looked over at Fang and grabbed her pulling her into a fast embrace. She held onto her as if she was going to die, and for a moment Fang allowed herself to melt into her bride. After a few minutes they both let go of one another and looked into one another's eyes. Fang brushed a piece of hair from the strawberry's face and smiled painfully.

"I've...and always will love you Vanille."

Vanille cupped her mouth and tears welled up in her eyes. She closed them and a tear couldn't help but fall down her face. When she opened her eyes she could see the pain in the raven girl's eyes.

"I love you too.... if you ..disappear... I will do the same."

Fang looked at her and he expression changed to anger, she clenched her fist and looked at the hopeless girl who stood in front of her.

"Don't you ever...when I'm gone... I want....."

She stopped and her hands fell limp at her sides.... she looked at the girl who stood before her and closed her eyes.

"I want you... to be happy. I want you.... to marry Moon and...."

She felt a stab of pain shoot through her body. Vanille just looked and her and knew in her heart that life wasn't worth living if she wasn't around.

The older girl turned and looked at the citadel. Vanille crept up behind her and wrapped her arms around the raven girl and kissed between her shoulder blades.

"If you're not around... I won't be either... so please stay around."

Fang sighed and looked down, getting one last glimpse of the hands that were wrapped around her. The young girl loosened her grip and the two opened the huge door that led into the morbid structure.

When they walked through the doors both of the women were speechless, Vanille seemed to hold onto her bride's hand a little harder than she normally would... and Fang was too much in awe to even notice.

The room was composed of beautiful blue crystals. The tiles, the ceiling... even the walls glowed as if they were made of pure energy. The two women looked ahead and saw a group of people standing in the middle of the main area, cloaked to where their faces appeared to only be shadows.

There were bottles of wine and a fire in the center of the room. They were laughing and being loud for no good reason. One of the men looked up in a drunken daze and removed his cloak. He gave a decayed smile and made his way over to the two young women.

"Who are you!? Identify yourselves."

Fang looked at him and stepped forward, eyes cast down at her sandals.

"I am looking for the l'cie anima... I am the l'cie from Oerba village."

The man looked at the youth as she spoke and threw her a dirty look. He stumbled over to the raven girl and seemed to be undressing her with his eyes. He looked at Vanille and licked his crusty chapped lips.

"Oh so you're the worthless scum...dirty......fuckin-....."

Fang looked up at him and grabbed her spear in a defensive stance. Vanille held her face in shock and eyed the nasty man wearily.

"Who the hell do you think you are...come in here... you nasty whores.... "

He looked at them with bloodshot eyes and walked over to where a bottle of wine was sitting and grabbed it, pouring himself a glass, spilling a good portion onto the surface.

Fang looked at him with fire burning in her eyes and a bead of sweat dripped down her face. He looked back at her and smiled again, wiping the dirty sweat from his brow.

"It's been boring around here... I'm glad....they finally sent us some fresh meat... "

He walked over to where vanille was standing and looked at her, grabbing her face with his hand. He rubbed himself against her and smelled her hair.

"and who's this? Is she for sale?"

He winked at Fang.

Fang stood there for a moment and her breathing increased. Her eyes burned with anger and she grabbed her spear. A great fire welled up inside her and her l'cie mark started to simmer.

She didn't transform but a great surge of energy ran through her body. Suddenly she felt her body go numb. Her hands moved without her knowing and she lunged at the dirty bastard. The spear stuck into him in the chest, crushing his ribcage and pierced through to the other side. She felt the swell of strength inside of her and the beast took over.

She lifted the man above her head and the blood dripped onto her face, her eyes burning with anger. She twisted the spear and screamed like a wild beast finishing it's prey. He let out a final gurgle as the life left his dirty body. The beast tossed him into the crowd and she immediately limped to the ground, out of strength.

"Fang! Stop it!"

Vanille ran over and wrapped her arms around Fang and attempted to help the older girl up.

They both watched as the large group of Anima monks came upon them. Vanille stood up and did her best to fight them off, but was finally caught by two of the members.

Fang couldn't bring herself to stand. She just eyed the crowd, with a blood drenched and fiery hatred. Vanille was also panting from the anger inside her small body.

"No one has the right to talk of Oerba like that...to treat us that way!"

Vanille screamed and the cloaked members started to laugh. One of them walked forward. He looked back at Fang and smiled at a few of the other men.

"Kill her."

She looked around in shock and quickly broke free of the grasp the young soldier had of her and ran in front of Fang. She wrapped her arms around the older girl's neck and kissed her face, forgetting the blood that had started to dry. She started to cry and looked up at the members who were smiling like dirty animals. She stood and looked at them and fell to the ground.

"Don't! Please, don't...I will give myself... I will become l'cie as well. Please don't kill her."

She started to cry unable to control herself and one of the older members stepped forward with a horrible scowl on his face.

"We are the chosen of the gods and you dare kill one of us. You should both be killed immediately. That dirty beast should be killed.... kill her..."

He motioned the guards to grab Fang, who didn't even have the energy to resist. He then walked over to vanille and started to unzip his pants.

"As for you..."

He pushed his body against her and pulled down her skirt. He smiled and his dirty teeth made the small girl wince.

In that moment another member shot through the crowd. His face couldn't be seen but he walked up to the priest and grabbed his arm.

"Stop it. We need them. Let the two become l'cie... the young beast seems more powerful when she is around this one anyway."

He looked back at Vanille and the latter caught a glimpse of a large scar that was on his face. He smiled at her, and unlike the other members... his eyes were soft and gentle.

The older member shook himself from the young man's embrace and shrugged in annoyance.

"Fine... a dirty bitch like this probably has a million diseases anyway. Fucking animals."

The older man walked away and the kind member walked extended his hand to the young beast, who then looked up and grabbed it... allowing herself to be pulled to her feet.

The two were then led to the center of the room where the ceremony would start. Fang grabbed Vanille's hand and the monks gathered around in a circle. They started a low chant that seemed to echo through the crystal structure.

The room went dark and a blast of energy knocked everyone to the floor, the two women were the only ones standing. Fang pulled the young girl closer to her and held on for dear life...

The two women felt their bodies collide disappearing into each other as the whole room went white.


	16. The Scar

Light and Hope continued their final ascent, able to see the domed roof above them. They both felt their feet hit a flat, throwing them both into complete darkness. Lightning did a fire spell to light the way and the two of them made their way slowly through the chamber.

The two looked up at a large tablet and Light got close to it and tried desperately to read the descriptions that were written on it. She scrunched her forehead and Hope could tell that she couldn't translate what was written. He walked over to her and looked up at the tablet that seemed to reach up into the ceiling.

"Lady Light, I don't think we will be able to understand what it says."

She looked at him and sighed, obviously annoyed by her lack of understanding.

"Yes I guess this is a dead end."

The two of them turned their heads as a sound came from the back of the room, away from sight. They both stood there in silence with their hands placed upon their weapons, Light instictively put out the flame.

The lights that were on the side of the walls came on suddenlt and a man walked slowly from out of the shadows, in a cloak that was ripped and torn, well beyond it's useful age. He was handsome but had a large scar on his face. He smiled as he walked toward them and his eyes had a unique kindness that put the two at ease.

"Hello there."

He looked them up and down as if trying to determine what they were doing in a place like this.

"What can I help you with?"

Hope seemed to shuffle as if the very question made him uncomfortable. Lightning looked at him and averted her eyes from his kind gaze, that seemed to pass right through her.

"We are trying to find... information."

She looked at him and caught his eyes which seemed to be sharp with intelligence. He looked at her and smiled slightly.

"You are looking to free Fang and Vanille... am I correct?"

He continued to look at the two and glanced back and forth in expectation. Light stood there agape and wore a confused expression.

"Yes... but how did you...?"

He motioned her to be quiet and looked at Hope who still had his eyes fixed on the him.

"I have seen the two of you many times in my dreams. I have carved many statues using the memories of my dreams. I was an l'cie... I think... but unlike the others I have more power... perhaps I am a god... I am not quite sure."

He looked at the two of them and smiled.

"Kidding about the god thing...but I have seen you two many times and I have waited in anticipation on the two of you arriving here."

He walked over to the corner of the room and opened a chest. Light and Hope just stood there and turned, watching his every movement. He pulled out a small stone that had a strange carving on it, and then walked back to where Hope and Light stood .He held the stone up to where the light illuminated it.

"Do you know what I have here?"

He turned around not even waiting for either of them to reply.

"I have... in my hands... the power of the gods..."

He brushed the stone off and seemed to inspect it as if he was awe.

"I can help you free your friends with this."

Light and Hope looked up and seemed to be caught off guard. She walked up to him and grabbed his arm softly, turning him around and looked into his eyes.

"What!?."

He looked at her and smiled... looking down again at the stone.

"Don't worry..."

He looked up and smiled.

"It's easy, you just have to place it in your hand and wish that it will become the crystal instead of them.... think of it as a vessel... something to take the blame for the two."

He grabbed her hand and placed the stone in her palm. She glanced back at Hope and scrunched her head.

"I will do that.. now please... tell us your name."

The young man looked down at his feet and smiled softly. He motioned the two to follow him... which they obeyed. As they walked through the corridor he turned facing them.

"My name is Behemoth."


	17. Destruction

Hope, Light, and Behemoth all sat around a table in a room that the latter had been staying in for hundreds of years. He was eager to chat with both of them and it could be seen that he was rather lonely.

The three of them sat there and discussed all kinds of random things, including the duo's long journey, and even how the massive stairs annoyed all three of them. He looked up at both of them when there was a lull in the conversation.

"Hey by the way, both of you can call me Behe...everyone always did. My parents spelled my name strangely and I wish they wouldn't have."

The two just nodded in agreement and they all sat around enjoying some wine that Behe had found in the ruins of a nearby village hundreds of years ago. He saw that Light's glass was almost empty and so he poured her another one.

"Drink as much as you want, it's aged nicely...this is the good stuff.... I don't know what I was saving it for.... I have the hooch in another room. You find ways of making all sorts of things when you live hundreds of years."

He threw a smirk at the two of them and winked. Hope couldn't help but laugh at the statement and took another drink of wine.

"So tell me Behe, why are you still alive? I thought that everything in Gran Pulse was destroyed."

The young man looked down at his glass and seemed to be deep in thought. He then looked up at the two of them and smiled as if trying to think the best response.

"I should be dead but I had been in the bottom chamber which is almost a mile below the ground. I was having sex with one of the other men whom I had a relationship with. He left and I stayed down there because I was tired. When the fire blasted through everyone died but me, including him."

He looked at both Hope and Lightning who had pained expressions on both of their faces.

"You both probably wonder why I describe the events like that instead of breaking down. The truth is I have had hundreds of years to get over my first love, having rolled the event in my mind so many times that it doesn't bother me to think of it now. It's almost like a distant memory or some bad dream where I can't remember all of the details."

He went silent and the three of them just sat there taking it all in. Hope looked up as if a thought caught his mind again.

"Why then are you still alive?"

He looked at Behe with earnest eyes, sitting even on the edge of his seat. Behe smiled at him and seemed happy that someone was there so interested in what he had to say.

"I'm not sure. I had a mark, like all the other l'cie when this all happened... and after the event the mark was gone along with my mortality."

He looked at Hope and then down at his glass shyly. Both Hope and Lightning poured another and continued to sit in great anticipation.

"I have been here so long studying all of the texts I could find in Gran Pulse.. that's how I found out about the stones."

He sat there and then it seemed that an idea sparked his mind so he stood up and walked over to a bookshelf and seemed to be looking for something, with his finger placed on his mouth.

"Oh never-mind, but now that I'm on the subject I guess I should tell you how the stone works. "

He walked back over to where he was sitting before and plopped down.

"You have to be right under the crystal structure that Fang and Vanille are imprisoned in... and you have to create a pentagon shape on the floor so the stone will know where to sit the two upon freeing them."

Both Hope and Lightning nodded woozily from the amount of wine they had drank. Behe seemed to notice this and smiled.

"Once you do that you will be able to free your friends. I have to warn you though to be careful, the stone is quite powerful once it activates."

Light got up and stumbled and went over to where Behe was sitting and put her hand on his shoulder leaning side to side from the alcohol.

"Thanks... I am ready for this..ready for this to end.."

She belched and Behe laughed and rose to his feet, her hand fell from his shoulder and she smiled woozily. He looked at her and grinned.

"Well it seems you two are quite tired. There is a back room that has a bed in it... it probably smells like dust and old farts but feel free to use it."

He got up and walked over to a desk that was sitting in the corner and sat down, he started to leaf through a tome that was sitting there and looked back at the two with a strange smile on his face.

Lightning and Hope made their way out of the chamber, ending the conversation.


	18. Sorrow

Vanille opened her eyes and could feel a horrible pain shoot through her body. It felt as if she had the flu, everything ached and her temples were throbbing.

She looked around a dark chamber and noticed Fang was fast asleep beside her. She reached over, with her hand shaking from weakness and felt the older's girl's face. The latter was burning up but there was a cold compress that had been applied to her head.

She inched her way over and rested her head on Fang's chest... feeling the shiver of a fever run through her body. Her body ached and she wrapped her arms around the older girl and immediately found comfort in the warmth it emitted.

A robed figure walked into the room and then removed his hood. It was the young man from earlier, and his scar could easily be seen under the light. He looked down at Vanille and smiled gently.

"I see you're awake... that's good. I heard movement so I came to see how you two were feeling."

Vanille looked at him and a bead of sweat ran down her face. She slowly pushed herself off the older girl and looked at the man standing in front of her.

"Why....why do I feel so horrible?"

Her arm buckled from weakness and she fell back onto Fang's chest, arousing the older girl from her sleep. The raven girl immediately scrunched her face and moaned, reaching for her head only to find the compress that laid upon it.

"Oh...Vanille....what ....what pain!"

Vanille rolled over to the other side of the bed and tried sitting up...again falling. Fang too sat up on the edge of the bed and looked at the young man wearily. She tried standing but her knees buckled and she fell into the his arms. It seemed he was caught off guard and tried his best to hold her up.

"Easy there... you need to rest!"

He helped her back onto the bed and the gravity seemed to pull at her from all angles. She just looked at him and a pained expression came to her face.

"What's.... happening....!?"

He sat down on a chair beside the bed and grabbed the compress and placed it in a bowl of water. He then squeezed the water out and gently placed it back on the girl's forehead.

"I'm not sure really. It must be because of Ragnarok and your union. It's strange because usually it's power isn't dependent upon two parties... but it seems..."

He got up and walked over to the side where Vanille lay and again made a compress for the poor girl, who by this time had tears in her eyes from the pain.

"It seems that you are not complete without one another. So it chose you as a couple instead of singular. I don't know why you feel so horrible to be honest, but you're quickly improving...so no worries..."

Fang looked at him and her breathing was strained.

"Why are you doing this?"

The young man looked down at her and smiled. He then walked over to her side and again sat down. She watched him curiously and seemed to be scanning him, trying desperately to figure him out. He noticed and smiled shyly.

"Don't worry... I have dreamt about the two of you many times... it's weird. There is a part of me that has to help you..."

She closed her eyes in exhaustion and sighed. He adjusted the compress and looked over at Vanille who had by this time passed out. Fang was also drifting in and out of herself. He looked at the two of them and sighed...

"The day after tomorrow brings you sorrow....yes... that's what father always told me."

He stood up slowly and turned off the lamp...making his way quietly out of the room.


	19. Dust

Light and Hope made their way to the chamber and the young man almost fell into the bed, causing dust to explode in the room. The two of them started coughing almost uncontrollably.

Lightning looked over at him and threw him a scowl.

"What...::cough::: is wrong with you!?:::cough::::... Get up!"

He obeyed and got off the bed and stood there swaying back and forth as he watched her grab her weapon and start beating the bed. She could be quite scary with that weapon and he stood back a little farther just in case she got any bright ideas.

"There... much better."

The two then made their way over to the bed. Lightning started to take off her boots and Hope just sat on the ledge of the bed, seemingly drifting in and out of consciousness.

The covers were too old to use and so she pulled the blanket that they had in the pack and wrapped up in it. Hope leaned back and then turned on his side and looked at her.

"Hey Light?"

She turned to look and him.

"Yes?"

He then waited a moment trying to form the words in his drunk mind.

"I'm cold can I have some blanket too?"

She looked at him and seemed genuinely sorry at being inconsiderate. She then proceeded to spread the blanket over the two of them.

They were both squirming trying to get comfortable in the age old bed. Light looked over at him and sighed. This was the most uncomfortable bed in the world she thought.

She turned to him and could see that he was probably thinking the same thing.

"This sucks."

He looked at her and laughed because the sleeping arrangements did indeed suck quite terribly. He turned on his back and looked up at the ceiling. She followed suit and the two lay in silence until Hope turned to her.

"Lady Light?"

She looked at him curiously. He then propped his head up on his arm.

"What is it?"

He looked at her and brushed off a piece of hair that had fallen into her face.

"I love you."

He averted his eyes and Light just threw him an irritated glance. She then sighed, rolled her eyes, and turned her back to him.

"Go to sleep."

He shifted and fell on the pillow and stared at the back of her head for a few minutes and then finally built up the courage to wrap himself around her. He kissed the back of her neck and she sighed disappointed.

"Hope, please stop and go to sleep."

He grabbed her shoulder and and turned her to face him and planted a small kiss on her lips. She drew back and looked at him and then turned again with her back facing him.

"I'll pretend you didn't do that... seriously cut it out...."

The alcohol was wearing off and Hope could feel the frustration welling up inside of him, he just stared at her back for a moment and then grabbed her shoulder again, forcing her on her back. He got on top of her and looked down at the woman who was obviously starting to get angry by the expression on her face.

"Hope, get the fuck off of me. NOW!"

He stayed on top of her, not trying anything but not complying either.

"No. I refuse. I want you to tell me you're not attracted to me at all, and that you have no feelings for me... and never will. I want to hear those words come out of your mouth."

He looked at her with a pained expression and she looked up with a angry scowl to match.

"Fine. I am not attracted to you, I don't have feelings for you, and I never will. Now get the fuck off me before I kill you."

He got off and rolled over to the other side of the ledge, out from under the covers...inching so close that he was nearly falling off. She pulled the covers over herself and created a cocoon, staring again at the ceiling. The silence was broken by a whimper coming from Hope's direction.

She glanced over and winced when she realized the man was quietly sobbing, trying to go unnoticed. She felt slightly heartbroken at the thought of Hope crying by himself on the ledge of the bed. So she loosened her cocoon and inched over to him and spread the blanket over the two, covering his shoulders.

"Here... now will you please stop crying."

He sniffed and turned, facing her, his eyes bloodshot and puffy. He looked at her and felt embarrassment in the pit of his stomach. He had tried so desperately to make her realize he was a man, and now he was crying like some little boy.

"I'm not."

She looked at him, who was sitting there with the most hopeless expression. She felt heartbroken at the sight and couldn't help but think the man was cute in such a desperate position. She smiled slightly when she caught glimpse of his eyelashes, which were stuck together from the tears.

She wiped away one of the tears that had accumulated and then leaned in closer, kissing him softly on the lips. She drew back and looked at him, he had closed his eyes when the burn had set in, trying desperately to avoid her line of sight.

"Now you don't need to cry anymore. Let's go to sleep."

She looked at him and then inched closer, resting her head on his chest. She could feel his heart beat a million miles a minute, the rhythm creating a lullaby to drift her into sleep. He felt his whole face burning and didn't say a word. Instead he allowed the woman to fall asleep and couldn't help but stay up all night with a million possibilities racing through his mind. He was quite possibly the happiest man alive.


	20. Two

Lightning started to squirm and opened her eyes, quickly scrunching her head and feeling a slight hangover. The previous nights events hit her and she looked over at Hope who had sometime in the night fallen asleep.

She got out of bed and started to get their things ready. Hope who had been sleeping lightly the whole night woke up and looked at her. He then propped himself up on his arm and watched her as moved about the room.

She noticed him watching and looked back at him embarrassingly. He smiled and then proceeded to get out of bed. He glanced over at her looked down as he put his boots back on, which during the night he unknowingly took off.

"Hey, um....Light."

He looked at her and she turned around averting her gaze to the floor and rocking back and forth on her feet.

"I guess we should head out. I am excited that we might get to see our friends again soon."

Lightning smiled at him with a 'thank you' look, relieved that he didn't bring up the previous night's kiss.

"Yeah I think that's a good idea."

She walked over and picked up her weapon and they both got packed up. The two left the room and made their way to the main chamber to say goodbye to Behe.

He had fallen asleep on the sofa but woke up as the two entered the room. He rubbed his eyes and looked at the two who were no standing in front of him.

"You kids heading out?"

He got up and walked over to a cabinet and pulled out a jar canned fruit and handed it to Light.

"Here, something to snack on for your journey."

The two nodded and started on their way out. Lightning turned around and looked at the young man who was standing there.

"Thank you Behe for all of your help."

He smiled at her as the two made their way out the door.

"Please visit me again."

The two smiled and made their way out and started the descent. The journey down wasn't nearly as difficult as their way up. Each step was helped along by gravity and the two had no problem skipping a few steps at a time as they nearly flew down the staircase.

They made it to the bottom in less than a few hours and again came upon the beautiful blue main chamber. They were walking along, Light tagging behind Hope who was walking with his eyes to the floor.

She glanced up and saw two statues in the corner, she gasped stopping dead in her tracks. There was her and Hope holding hands, a sculpture similar to the one of Fang and Vanille. It was hidden in the corner out of sight.

"Oh my god."

Hope stopped and looked back at her curiously.

"What's wrong?"

She looked up at him embarrassingly. She averted her eyes away and quickly looked to the floor and hurried up to where he was standing.

"Nothing, let's go."

He looked at her with a confused look and they both continued to walk through the chamber. She looked back and felt a blush run through her face.

"That bastard...he was smiling strangely."

Hope looked up at her when she spoke and stopped for a moment and was genuinely confused.

"Huh? What bastard? What are you talking about?"

She looked at him with an annoyed look and continued to walk.

"Nothing let's go."

He shrugged and quickly tried to catch up with the woman who's steps seemed to be more of a march.


	21. Recovery

Fang and Vanille had spent a few days recovering their health after the union had taken place. The room that Behe had set for them was quite cold and the two girls mostly stayed under the covers, occasionally sitting up some to read some of the books that he had brought in.

Vanille seemed most interested in the books on clothes design, and would leaf through all of the pages and squeak when she saw something that caught her eye. Fang on the other hand seemed to be completely engrossed in the tombs on weapons, and seemed to pick them apart and reengineer them in her mind.

She glanced over at Vanille and smirked when she saw how the girl was still reading about fashion. The young girl noticed this and returned her sarcasm with a shy smile.

"Hey Fang, I think you'd look pretty in this."

She lifted up the book, which had a picture of a very girly dress on the page. She smiled at the thought of Fang wearing something like that and the latter just raised her eyebrow and rolled her eyes, looking down again at the weapon tomb.

"Ya, sure thing kid....and now that I think of it...."

She turned a few pages and stopped, smiling sarcastically.

"I think this outfit would look "pretty" on you as well."

She lifted up the tomb, which only had a picture a helmet. Vanille frowned and pinched the older girl's arm.

"It's a helmet Fang! You need to get your mind out of the gutter!"

The raven girl smiled deviously and continued to leaf through the pages.

"Don't worry, we can wear matching outfits if you like."

She looked over at the strawberry girl who was by this time pretending she didn't hear her, then back at the book and sighed in boredom.

She closed the book and sat it down on the nightstand, and made her way to snuggle up to the young girl who was looking at a belt.

Fang watched the younger girl as her small hands leafed through the pages. She softly kissed the young girl's shoulder and sighed.

"Vanille, if we become crystals...well...if we wake up from...."

She stopped and Vanille closed the book and turned to the older girl who was by now immersed in thought. She kissed the older girl's nose and brushed a piece of hair out of the way.

"I know...we will wake up."

She placed her hand on Fang's face and smiled.

"When we do, you can open a shop...with weapons."

The raven girl looked at her and smiled, slowly inching into a soft kiss. The young girl instinctively wrapped her arms around Fang's waist, and the two seemed to get lost in the taste of each other.

Vanille laid on her back and allowed Fang to get on top of her. The latter slowly reached her hand behind and unclasped the bra that the strawberry was wearing. She then looked down at the young girl and kissed her, and allowed her hand to make it's way in between the girl's legs.

In that moment the door swung open and in came Behe, with another young monk. Behe gasped and let go of the young man's hand and they looked at each other embarrassingly. The girls looked up in shock and Vanille let out a squeak.

Fang quickly jumped off Vanille and sat on the opposite side of the bed, with an irritated expression. She looked up at the two in annoyance and the young men averted their eyes to avoid the piercing gaze.

Vanille was blushing and made her way to snap her bra back on, and scrambled to find a shirt to throw on. She then sat on the edge of the bed and looked down at the floor, her cheeks burning a bright red. The two men just stood there in silence for a moment and both seemed ready to sprint for the door. Behe swallowed and stuttered to speak, trying desperately to break the silence.

"Uh...yes... well...seems...."

He looked at the other man who seemed to be as uncomfortable as he was. Both of their faces had turned a bright shade of crimson.

"Yes...you two are feeling better it seems."

He then looked again at his friend and smiled when he realized how comical this whole situation really was. He glanced at the girls and smiled again trying to think of what to say.

"This is my friend Flamme...he is very good with medicine... I asked him to come and check your vitals to see if you are ready to begin your focus, but I'm not....uh...now not too sure it's necessary."

The other monk glanced up momentarily at the two women and then down at the floor.

"Hi. Yes well, I'd better be going Behe... they need to get their things ready...and um...well.... see ya!"

The young man looked at the two women and then turned on his heels and quickly left the room. Behe just stood there smiling uncomfortably.

"I probably won't be able to see you two off, but I brought a bag of food for your journey. I am going with Flamme to a nearby town to get some wine. We probably won't be back for a day or two."

The two women just looked at him and Vanille's expression saddened. She got up and made her way over to where he was standing. She stood in front of him for a moment and then threw her arms around his neck. The young man froze up uncomfortably when the young girl gave him a kiss on the cheek. She drew back and looked at him and smiled.

"Thank you Behe for all of your help! When we get done with our focus we will visit you again!"

Fang also got out of bed and the annoyed expression softened. She walked over to where the two were standing and extended her hand to the young man.

"Thank you...for saving Vanille."

He smiled and shook her hand.

"It was my pleasure. I really do wish you two the best of luck... and do be careful..."

Fang then put her arm around Vanille's waist and the two watched as their friend made his way out of the room. She then looked at the younger girl and sighed.

"I guess we'd better be off."


	22. The Strip

Light and Hope made their way across the Gran Pulse wilderness and came upon the fairly new city of Dannimoore, which had in the last seven years thrived due to it's deposits of useful minerals, of which the citizens of the sphere had no qualms in exploiting.

The two found themselves walking along the streets, in awe at the strip of entertainment venues. The lights seemed to make the whole street glow and it was hard not to get drawn into the excitement. Hope stopped at the city hotel and looked at Light who was staring at a musician that was playing on the street.

"Hey Light, I'll be right back. I'll go get a room and be back in a second, let's go somewhere."

She looked at him and nodded in agreement and made her way over to a woman who was playing guitar. The hum of her song seemed to play in harmony with the night, sweeping everything into it's lullaby...even the lights.

When the song finished the she looked at Light who was towering over her. Though a few strands of hair were clinging to the sweat on her face, it could be seen she was exceptionally beautiful. She chuckled nervously and continued to look at the blonde soldier.

"Hello there."

She stood up and Light looked at her cautiously and threw some coins into the case that was laid open on the ground. The blonde quickly looked at the guitar to avoid the piercing gaze of the young woman.

"Your music is very beautiful."

She crossed her arms and glanced up and caught the young woman's eyes, which seemed threw off a flirtatious glow.

"Thank you, would you like to hear another?"

Light looked at her and then again at the guitar. She shifted uncomfortably, trying desperately to stop a blush from forming on her cheeks.

"Yes..."

In that moment Hope walked up and looked at Light. Both of the women threw their attention to the unknowing intruder. He pushed the key he'd just obtained into his pocket, completely oblivious to the irritated look the musician was giving him.

"Hey Light, ready?"

Light looked at him, wishing in that moment she could choke him to death, but instead turned and walked away. Hope seemed confused and hurried to catch up to her.

"Hey, wait!"

The musician stared at the two as they walked away and started playing another song.

I met a girl

One night

Watched as she walked

Out of sight

lala

lala

The sound seemed to drown slowly into the background as the two made their way down the strip. Lightning was marching in annoyance and wouldn't even aknowledge the concerned expression on the young man's face.

"Hey Light look!"

She stopped and turned around only to see Hope pointing at an advertisement in the window of a bar.

"Cheap drinks! Let's go in!"

He excitedly opened the door and walked in . Light rolled her eyes and followed closely on his heels, and the two made their way over to the bar. The bartender noticed the two enter and glanced at them both as they stood there.

"What can I get you?"

Hope leaned over and was smiling, trying to see all the different types of drinks.

"Can you make a Pink Chocobo!?"

The older bartender looked at him and smiled.

"Yes young man. You must be very comfortable with yourself to order that drink."

He grabbed a glass and started filling it with some very pink looking frozen stuff, and put a very small umbrella on the side.

Light looked at him and couldn't help but smile sarcastically. The bartender then threw his attention in her direction.

"Yes I will have a double shot Vin."

He looked shocked but reached down and grabbed a bottle that had a skull and crossbones on the front and poured a tall shot. She reached over and grabbed it, and hesitated for a moment before gulping it down. As the shot ran down her throat she could feel it burn and winced from the pain, wiping her face in agony.

"Ugh....Fuck. That's nasty..."

Hope looked at her worried and took a small sip of his fruit drink. She sat on one of the bar stools and he followed suit. There was a T.V. on and Light started to get absorbed in the newscaster that was talking about military training operations on Gran Pulse. She completely forgot about the young man even though he seemed to want to talk to her.

When the show ended she looked over and realized that Hope wasn't sitting by her anymore. She ordered another shot and gulped it down, and noticed that this one wasn't nearly as bad as the last.

She got up and walked around the bar, wondering where he made his way off to. She walked into another room that was set up like a lounge and noticed in the corner that Hope was sitting with some woman who was dressed very provocatively. She had on a red dress and the auburn curls seemed to fall around her beautiful features. Her hand was rested on Hope's knee and she was leaning over and whispering something in his ear.

Hope was blushing and he leaned in and kissed the woman, who made no motion to resist.

Upon seeing this the fearless blonde leader could feel her face start to burn and the knots build in the pit of her stomach. She quickly glanced down and marched out of the room and over to the bar, flagging down the bartender once more.

"I'll have a triple shot please."

The bartender looked at her and scrunched his head and noticed the sudden change in her demeanor. He poured a very large shot and sat it down on the bar.

She took it and chugged it as she swiftly made towards the door, sitting it down violently on a table. She left the bar like a bat out of hell and her steps seemed to make the whole earth shake. The whole world was spinning and she felt her stomach burning as the sweat ran into her eyes, causing them to burn. She could barely focus on anything at all, everything in the world felt like a daze.

"Hey are you ok!?"

Light turned around only to see the musician from earlier. She stopped for a moment and wiped the sweat off her face as the musician came into focus. When she realized it was the young woman she felt embarrassed and looked down to avoid the concerned look on the the musician's face.

"Yes I'm fine."

The woman gave a worried smile and picked up the guitar case that was sitting on the ground.

"Well, you shouldn't be walking around by yourself in this town, someone might try and take advantage of you."

She looked at Light who was shifting uncomfortably, still dizzy from the massive amount of Vin she had been drinking.

"I can handle myself."

Light looked at her side and tapped the weapon that was hanging from it. The young musician just smiled and looked the strawberry blonde up and down, biting her bottom lip.

" I didn't mean that...I just mean that a woman as beautiful as you shouldn't walk around alone... someone might notice that you've been drinking and try and take advantage."

She walked over to Light and got very close to the blonde's face and spoke softly into her ear.

"I'm Amifleur."

The blush burned Light's face but she didn't even try and get away from the young woman. Instead a sweet smell seemed to drift from the girl and put the strawberry blonde in a trance.

"Light."

The young musician leaned back and noticed the blush that had formed on Light's face. She softly pressed her lips to Light's cheek and then slowly withdrew from the immobilized leader, whose eyes were closed.

"Pretty."

She smiled and continued to look at Lightning who still had her eyes closed.

"Will you walk me home?"

Light opened her eyes and looked at the girl, trying desperately to process the information.

"I don't feel safe in my neighborhood, so will you walk me home?"

She tilted her head innocently and Light looked at her and scrunched her face when the thought of Hope and that woman made it's way into her mind.

"Yes."

The woman smiled victoriously and grabbed Light's hand and she pulled the blonde along.

"It's this way!"

The figures of the two women faded as they disappeared into the shadows of the city.


	23. I do

"Do you believe in fate?"

The evening air blew a few strands of hair loose from the tie that was holding Vanille's hair. The teen looked away and tried desperately to fight the wind that forcefully fought against her.

"I do."

Fang shifted the position of her arms and stared desperately at the horizon that stood before them.

"I believe that.. our end will come....and that end will have a particular course of events that leads to it..."

Mesmerized by the sunset, Vanille felt like flying. The feeling was so powerful she felt anything was possible. The wind grabbed her by the sides and drifted her along , the breeze dominating places even Fang couldn't reach.

She closed her eyes and thought of her life...of her parents...Oerba... and, most importantly of Fang.

"I don't believe in fate..."

The raven woman looked at her with a confused expression.

"Vanille?"

She glanced down and turned to the older girl. She grabbed the raven's hand and the two continued to look at the horizon. Neither of them could ignore the horrible structure that dominated the background.

"I am so...scared...Fang. Hold me."

Lowering her head, she fought against the thought of not existing. She wanted, even if she didn't say...to start a family with the Oerba beast. Fang saw the change in expression and instinctively squeezed the girl's hand and pulled her closer, her lips inches away from the strawberry's ear.

"If it wasn't for you, I'd of killed myself....when dad drank himself to death."

Vanille shivered when the memories of her own parents took over. How Fang was the one who made life possible again.

"When he died... and the whole village looked at me like some piece of trash. You were there...little...my little Vanille. I held you night after night. You made me feel alive, and the days turned into years... and you grew from a little girl into a woman. I grew too, every day...with you..."

Fang pushed away held her face in her hands.

" I just want to be with you. The world can burn for all I care. You're my baby, you always have been and you always will be."

Vanille stood silent and took it all in, the tears ran down her face unconsciously.

"I love you. I don't want to be in a world where you don't exist."

The words echoed through every piece of tissue the young beast owned. Vanille felt the same way..she bent up and kissed the older girl, pulling away almost immediately.

"I love you too."

The embrace, like the setting sun...ended....as it always does.


	24. Ami

Amifleur held Light's hand and the two fled through the streets. The strawberry blonde didn't even know where she was... and in all honesty, didn't care.

They came upon an apartment building. Ami looked back at the beautiful soldier and smiled, pushing the key into the lock.

"This way..."

Light followed the beautiful musician into the drab apartments... not feeling anything...her body and her mind had gone numb. She watched the young girl, the back of her neck...focusing on the way her brown curls danced on her neck.

She looked at Light and smiled shyly.

"Are you ok?"

Light looked at her with a ravage mind and kept her stoic expression.

"Yes."

Ami grabbed the her hand and led her into the apartment.

"Tada! My house...what'ya think?!"

Light just swayed back and forth and stared without expression at the beautiful woman that stood before her. Ami grabbed her hand and led her to the back of the apartment.

"I want to show you my paintings."

She pulled Light along until they were both standing in the bedroom. The paintings were mostly of landscapes, and the occasional nude...thrown here and there.

"Ami..."

The musician looked back at Light who was having trouble standing up.

"Yes....Light?

Lightning's vision was blurry.

"Nev....nevermin...never."

Ami's eyes glowed with a particular bit of interest.

"You need water... let me get you some."

Light watched as the young woman made her way to the kitchen and filled a glass of water.

"Here!"

Light took the glass and the fluid ran down her throat. In that instance she felt a hand grab from behind her and a clothe press firmly against her face. She was too dizzy to fight, instead she just fainted to the touch.


	25. Fire

The ceiling drifted in and out, the walls seemed to jump from their position and wrap around the vision of the room. Light blink a few times and her vision came into focus. Looking over she saw her bare arm tied to the bed, with her legs in a similar position. The chill from the night air made her realize she was naked.

Shifting into focus, Amifleur was sitting on the edge of the bed, naked...smoking a cigarette. She glanced back at Light who was shifting uncomfortably.

"What...wh... did you do to me?!"

Amifleur put the cigarette out on the bed post and crawled on top of her bare body. She inched closer until her mouth was inches from the soldier's face. She giggled.

"Everything."

Eyes closed, Light winced. She was too much in shock to even react. Ami giggled again and her hand made it's way down Light's sides and she dug her nails in, bringing blood. A small tear fell down Light's cheek...her body in that moment reacted, and she pulled at the restraints that had a firm hold on her wrists.

"Fuck you!"

Ami pushed herself up on her arms and stared down at lightning and smiled.

"I want to make you feel as bad as you made me feel."

She put her hands around Light's neck and started to strangle her. Light was fighting, her neck muscles had tensed up as her face turned red. Ami let up just enough to kiss her on the lips, biting her..almost tearing it. She sat up and reveled in the blood that sat on her lips.

"You look just like she did....so..."

She slapped Light across the face. "Ughh!"

"I'm going to..."

Slap. "Fuck"

"Hurt you..."

Punch. "Stop!"

"The way she hurt me..."

Lightning's hands had fisted and in that moment a small fire erupted in her palm. She had without thinking, conjured a fire spell she'd learned in middle school. Ami got up in fear and watched as the ties that held Light's arm burned up. The soldier took her hand made her way to burn the other three that held her.

Jumping from bed she grabbed her weapon that was sitting against the wall and turned, mouth bleeding..with a hate of fire and brimstone radiating from the iris.

Two shots made their way through the young woman, finding a final resting place on the wall behind her.

Ami just stood there for a moment and looked down in shock, falling limply to the floor. Light also limped and sat there... not reacting...not feeling.

She got up and picked up her things in robotic motions. Once she was done she just stood there looking down at the woman who lay on the floor.

"Next time use silence."

She walked past her dead body and closed the door behind her.


	26. Forgranted

The street lights seemed dim and dull as Light ran down the street. She didn't even feel the sweat that was running down her face. Her body started to shut down, a mixture of alcohol and the drugs that Ami had pumped into her.

She fell to her knees and placed her weight on the weapon she carried with her. WIth the blade next to her face she sat still looking at the city around her. It had to have been around six, all the drunkards and villains had made their way home.

Picking up her resolve, she pushed up on her weapon, standing up. The strength that Lightning possessed was amazing, even if she had to sacrifice a bit of her humanity to obtain it.

She walked towards the hotel that Hope had checked in at and opened the door. There was a receptionist sitting at a desk who looked up when Light made her way to the desk.

"May I help you?"

She looked at the soldier who stood before. A bead of sweat ran from her temples.

"I need to know which room I'm in."

The receptionist grabbed a book and leafed through the pages.

"Name?"

Light looked at her and swallowed, trying to keep herself from falling over.

"Lightning Farron."

The receptionist ran her finger down until she landed on a name.

"Ah yes, Lightning and Hope.....uhhh......you're in room 204."

The soldier blinked and stared at the woman.

"Thanks."

She walked through the halls, searching for room 204. Finally finding it, she sighed, looking up at the number. She turned the knob and the door opened...into a dark room.

"Hope....?"

She couldn't see anything and felt along the walls to find a light. Her fingers felt a switch which she flipped up. She looked up and saw Hope on the bed, with a map pressed against his face. There was a phone book and a phone on the bed next to him.

"Hope....you were looking for me....?"

The shiver ran through her body as the pain from between her thighs started to throb.

"Fuck."

She held her face in her hands and started to sob quietly.

"I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry...."

Falling to her knees she kept sobbing, unable to control the contractions and heaving that seemed to take over in that moment. All the years of holding back, of her parents death, of Serah.

"Fuck! Fuck the gods!"

Hope awoke to her screaming and sat up in bed, witnessing the woman crouched on the floor.

"Light?"

He jumped up and made his way over to her.

"You're bleeding...."

His arms wrapped around her and he pushed his face against her own. She stopped sobbing and sat still, feeling his warm breath against her.

"I love you....I'm so sorry....I'm so sorry....."

Squeezing her harder he just sat in silence.

"I love you too...what happened?"

She reached up and planted a soft kiss on his lips.

"I .....I will never take you for-granted ever again....I'm so sorry.....I want to die."


	27. The Cellar

Behe and Flamme made their way back to the citadel after visiting a nearby town, stocking up on their favorite canned meats and wines. They walked through the main entrance and the other monks were having a meeting.

One of them turned around and squinted when the two young men made their way through the grand chamber.

"Vile."

He spat on the ground when the two men walked past. Behe leaned over to whisper something in Flamme's ear.

"Hey Fla you want to go to the lower corridor? Halifo is such a ratbag."

He just nodded and the two made their way to a door that led down an endless staircase, ending in a cellar type chamber. Behe walked over and sat a bag down on the ground.

"Make me a glass of wine."

He took off his robe and watched as Flamme took the wine out of the bag. He opened the bottle with delicate motions, pouring it into a glass.

"I like your hands."

The young man looked back and smiled, walking over to where Behe was standing.

"I like your smile."

Behe leaned in and gave the man a soft kiss, drawing back to meet his eyes.

"I know you have to go find those papers but will you stay with me for a bit?"

Smiling at Behe, he nodded in agreement.

"I love you a lot."

Behe wrapped his arms around the young man and got lost in the smell of Astral berry that always seemed to linger on him.

"You smell nice...promise you'll never leave me.."

Flamme squeezed him a little harder and kissed the top of his head.

"I promise."


	28. Angel

The faucet dripped as Light turned the knob into resting position. She stepped out of the shower and grabbed the towel that was sitting on the back of the toilet seat, draping it around her.

The steam from the bathroom had fogged up the mirror, so she reached up and wiped away the condensation. She leaned forward and looked at the image before her and sighed.

When she opened the bathroom door a blast of cold air hit her, forcing the drops of water to bite at her neck. Hope looked at her as she walked into the main area of the hotel room.

"Feel better?"

He returned his attention to the show that was on and Light walked to the edge of the bed and sat down. She pull her hair to where it was draped on one shoulder, and slowly began brushing the blonde and pink locks.

"Yes."

Hope glanced over only to catch sight of her bare shoulders. Every movement the woman made was exact. He turned off the T.V. and propped himself up on his hand, enjoying the delicate movements of the soldier in front of him.

"You have nice shoulders."

She stopped brushing and looked at the wall in front of her. She glanced down and looked at the brush that was in her hand.

"Thanks."

She continued to brush without paying much more attention to the young man, but stopped when she realized he hadn't turned the T.V. back on. She turned around and glanced momentarily and noticed the awestruck look that he was throwing off. She sighed and looked again at the brush in her hand.

"I've been unfair to you." She pulled a piece of cotton off the towel and flicked it into obscurity.

"Yes I have been very unfair..."

She sighed and continued to look down...her breathing deepened as she thought of herself...of her behavior. She thought of her personality and all the things wrong with it. A jab of pain could be felt in the back of her throat, her eyes had welled with tears as she sat thinking of her life and all it's failures.

"You've been my only friend. To everyone else I have been boring...too serious...not graceful enough....not girly enough...."

She laughed, revealing the nasal sound of someone who is the process of bursting into tears. She sat still for a moment, swallowing the lump that had formed in her throat.

"I don't know how else to be."

Glancing back, she caught his eyes. He was looking at her with a concerned expression. He got up and crawled over to where she was sitting and wrapped his arms around her, resting his head on her shoulder. He kissed her cheek, and wiped away a bead of water that was running down.

"I like you just the way you are lady Light."

She gave a short burst of laughter, falling into silence. She let out a sniffle and rubbed her eye with her hand.

"I know...that's why I'm sorry."

The two sat there like that for several minutes. She felt her heart beat a little faster as she felt his warm breath on her neck. He continued to rest his head on her shoulder and could feel the burn make it's way down his body as he felt the warmth of her body pressed against him. Without saying a word held his hand that was gripping her tightly from behind.

In slow motions she took his hand and with her own placed it under the towel, where it was now touching her leg. He reached up slowly and undid the towel that was wrapped around her body. He pulled it slowly from her shoulders and looked down as the towel fell to the bed, revealing the flesh that lay beneath it.

"Hope...."

She felt his arms wrap around her once more, his lips touching the back of her neck.

"You are so beautiful..."

He pulled back and she gasped as she felt him start to undress himself. Her back was still turned and she sat frozen, looking at the shadow that was dancing on the wall.

Sensing the discomfort he got under the covers and turned on his side facing her.

"Come to bed..."

She glanced back in embarrassment and saw that he was already laying down. She sighed in relief and pulled the covers from her side, slowly crawling into position.

Staring at the ceiling, she laid on her back, her breathing was short and strained. Her whole body felt numb from nervousness, even the pit of her stomach was burning like she'd drank a quart of Vin.

He inched closer to her until his body was pressed against her own. He reached over and traced the lines of her body with his finger until his hand was between her legs.

"Beautiful."

The throbbing between her thighs was in sync with the beating of her heart, of her mind. Every thought and every moment of holding back went out the window. Her face was burning and she didn't even have the desire to make it stop.

The young man got on top of her, the warm flesh pressed firmly against her skin. She looked up and held his face in her hands, pulling him into a deep kiss. He reached down slowly and placed himself, just enough to slip in.

In that moment she let out as a gasp, closing her eyes. The blush on her face was obvious and the young man smiled as he deepened the kiss even further.

He felt his body get lost inside her, the hellfire taking over as he pushed her against the bed. It was a delicate dance that neither wanted to stop. Her hands wrapped around him and her nails dug into his back, this prompted him to push harder.

She gasped, letting go of her hold of him. She fumbled to find something to grab onto, something to make it stop...something to make it continue.

Her body was burning, her mind was blank. With every gasp and moan the beast inside of him become more violent.

"Fuck!"

She screamed unconsciously and the young man felt a fire erupt in his chest. He grabbed her arms and pinned them to the bed, and led her into the next stage of the violent dance. Time seemed to stop as he tore through the last barrier the woman had placed against him.

A bead of sweat fell from his face and he looked down at the beautiful woman as he continued to destroy her. Her whole body was limp as the movement mounted...a mixture of pleasure and pain.

As the movement came to it's violent peak, as he spilled himself inside her....he let go of her hands and the dance slowed to a delicate finish.

He got off of her and laid on his back, out of breath and looking at the ceiling...she felt the pain between her thighs and turned to him instinctively, and laid her head on his arm. He turned and wrapped his arm around her and pulled her head to his chest.

Her mind was for once in her life, cleared of any shame. She wasn't afraid or defensive...she wasn't worried. All she could think about was the hot skin that was pressed against her face, and the beating heart that lay beneath it.

Neither said a word to each other....the moment was beyond that. The heat of their bodies spoke volumes.

They fell asleep pressed against each other. The last wall that remained between the two had been torn down.


	29. Fear

Fang pulled Vanille along in a determined swagger, ignoring the rot of fear that ate through her body.

There was no turning back now. Vanille gasped as Fang squeezed her hand even harder, pushing forward toward the horrible structure that crept into the sky like a nightmare.

"Fang...please...you're hurting me."

Fang stopped and looked back, only to catch a pained expression on the young woman's face. Looking down, her face took on a pained expression...hidden away from her strawberry bride.

"You never complained before."

A few tears fell from Vanille's eyes, as they always did. Fang closed her eyes and breathed deeply.

"Don't cry....."

The young girl looked up and sniffed, not realizing the raven knew she was crying.

"I'm not...I'm not.....I...."

She pulled her hand from the older girl and fell to her knees...the pain in her chest took over...the onslaught of heaves were unbearable.

"I can't do it Fang...I can't....I don't want to die...and I don't want Moon....I don't want to be crystals....and I don't want to be away from you...I don't want any of this."

The sobs broke through the last piece of humanity Fang had inside herself.

"Vanille...."

Without thinking, Fang held her hand out to her young bride. She sighed and looked up at the building that haunted their current existence.

"Wherever you go my love, I shall too. Wherever you stay, there I shall be. Your family is my family. Where you die....that's where my body shall be found."

Vanille looked up at her and smiled, wiping away a few tears. She took Fang's hand and pulled herself to her feet.

"Is that poetry Fang? It's beautiful...but you don-"

Fang silenced her and kissed her head, taking in the smell of her hair. The scent she may never smell again.

"No not poetry...just a promise between two women, in some book I read once."

The sun danced on Vanille's hair, illuminating the dreary world that existed around them.

"I'm scared Fang....."


	30. Vanille

The heat from the rush made the images blur in front of the two women, as Fang dragged Vanille along in violent motions. The stairs had turned all amiable feelings away, as the doom of their ascent crowded both their minds.

Vanille's hand turned white from the tight grip the raven had on it, and beads of sweat had accumulated on her forehead. They were climbing the stairs to the final platform of their fate, and Fang, although determined...was unable to allow herself to think of the outcome.

"Hurry!"

She yanked at the young girls arm and the latter fell to her knees sobbing.

"I can't...I can't..."

Fang turned to the younger woman who was sitting on the floor, hugging her knees.

"Vanille!"

Grabbing the strawberries arm, she yanked her to her feet.

"Get up!"

Vanille swayed... looking at the young beast. Her eyes had glossed over and she didn't seem to see the older woman.

"Vanille...do you know what this is!?"

The raven turned the girl violently and lifted up her skirt.

"This is..."

She grabbed her l'cie mark with her hand and squeezed tightly.

"This is time Vanille...that of which, we are running out of."

Fang grabbed her with both her hands and forced the latter to look her in the eyes.

"Vanille...if we don't do this...we won't be together!"

Fang, loosened her grip and looked at her young bride who was swaying, from a self inflicted fever. Vanille looked into her eyes...unable to control the shudder that ran through her body.

"I...can't...I can't....can't....."

Fang looked down and then forced her focus on the platform that stood right above them. Ignoring Vanille, she started walking, glancing back only momentarily to catch the paralyzed look the teen threw off.

"Vanille..."

She was speaking in whispers.

"I'll be damned if anything happens to you."

Fang ran up the stairs, to the platform. An energy rushed through her body...transforming her...breaking through the silence.

"Fuck!"

As the energy swept through her body, Vanille watched from the stairs...immobilized and unable to do anything about it.

"Fang....I....."

The flames blasted through everything...

Vanille collapsed...


	31. Gone

The wind blew the fabric from the young man's hands...the latter didn't even flinch as it disappeared along with the dust and ash that filled the air. Tears were the only moisture that existed in the barren wasteland, those of which ran down the young man's face without hesitation.

"Gone."

He saw everything. The sky, the large scar that was dripping with fire and brimstone, and the loss. He saw the image of Flamme on the floor, dead and burned, clasping the locket he gave him for his birthday.

"Gone." Even you...

Behe's vision blurred as he tried desperately to look out at the wasteland. The hot tears burned through the delicate flesh and made the young man wince.

Everything was gone.

"Gone...gone, gone, gone...why?..."

He fell to his knees and looked up at the sphere that bled sparks and ember.

"Why me!" Fuck you Vanille...fuck you Fang...

His knuckles were white with anger and he was gasping for air as he punched the ground...bringing blood to his knuckles.

"I will...kill you both...kill you...kill-"

Stopping in his tracks he looked over at the once sandy beach and noticed that it was now a block of blue crystal. The heat had melted the sand into the spectacle that now lay before him.

"Blue...crystal..."

He walked slowly over to the beach and bent down, touching his hand against the shard.

"Ah...I see you...Flamme...in here..."

He slid his finger along the edge and tilted his head, smiling slightly when a small drop of blood escaped his fingertip.

"I'm sorry."

A tear escaped from him and the young man stood up. He looked up at the scarred sphere that was above him.

"I...will save you both..."

And with that he scooped up a handful of sand and made his way back to the citadel.


	32. Stone

Note: One chapter was too confusing, mashed into two. Sorry.

The sun crept out of the shadows as it had done for hundreds of years. The start of life had found it's beginning and it's end as it had done for centuries before this one. Lightning walked up to the crystals and placed her hand upon them.

"Do you have it?"

The two smiled at each other shyly and continued in the motions.

"Deja vu?"

A slight blush made it's way to Light's face.

"We...skirted the gods I guess."

Hope threw a sharp glance at Lightning and smiled at the revelation. He let go of her hand ,got up, and walked up to the crystal structure. He held out his hand for her to hand him the stone.

"It's time."

She smiled slightly and handed him the stone. He held it above his head and looked back at her...the latter gave him a reassuring nod.

A few moments passed by and the two grew antsy with anticipation.

Nothing happened.

Hope looked at her and seemed disappointed.

"Well Light...I guess this is the end of the rope...ya know?"

As he started to walk back the stone started emanating a bright light. Both parties looked in shock as their vision blurred into obscurity.


	33. Out of Here

Light slowly opened her eyes only to find her face flat against the ground. The strawberry blonde groaned as the blood from her lips found its way into her mouth. Slowly pushing herself off the ground, she tried desperately to scan the area in hopes of seeing something familiar.

Fumbling to her feet, she squinted involuntarily at the unusual amount of dust in the air. The stone must have caused some sort of an explosion, blasting the earth into an unsettled cloud.

Off in the distance she could make out a figure slumped on the ground, so she started scuffling her way over to it..inadvertently kicking up sand as her weak body made a feeble attempt to protest.

When she finally got closer to the unconscious figure her heart stopped beating for a moment as she looked down at the raven hair that blew in the face of the lovely sleeping figure.

"Fang..."

Her voice got stuck in her throat as she quickly made her way over to the Oerban . She knelt down...grabbing the woman weakly and pulling her into her lap.

"Fang...wake up!"

She held the woman's head with one arm and slapped her face with the other.

"Fang!"

The woman's eyes slowly opened and she squinted as she tried to zoom in the strawberry soldier that had a firm grasp on her. In her confusion she coughed and squirmed in the firm hold.

"Light...ning...?"

She sat up on her own accord and looked in confusion at a much older version of Light.

"What?"

Light only looked at her, amazed that the younger woman was actually there. She scanned the Oerban's features and it seemed almost like a dream.

"What..what?"

The Oerban looked at her with a very confused expression and she scrunched her head as if deep in thought.

"Is...this...am I? Is this a dream?"

Lightning smiled softly and looked at the Oerban beast, realizing how confused the latter must be.

"No...you're not...but we have to find Hope and Vanille...I'll explain later."

With that she pushed the younger woman off her lap and stood up, again scanning the landscape. Realizing that Fang was still on the ground with a confused look on her face, the strawberry soldier held out her hand...upon which the latter reluctantly took in her own.

"Light...you're..."

The raven haired woman blinked a few times and looked again at Light in disbelief.

"How long have we been crystallized?"

The strawberry soldier looked at the younger woman and sighed, smiling within herself when she realized how much of a shock it all must be. She tilted her head and looked at the confused younger woman and laughed inwardly when she thought of how old she must look.

"So you're saying I look old?"

The blonde looked at the Oerban with a stoic expression. Fang just looked at her and fumbled over her own tongue to find the words.

"No...no...N-...not old...just old...-er."

Light secretly laughed inside herself but didn't allow it to show on her face, instead she turned on her heels and made her way to start the search again.

"That's right...now lets go."

The two turned their heads when they heard a moan come from off in the distance. Throwing each other a knowing glance, the two made their way toward the sounds.

"Vanille!"

Hope was holding Vanille in his arms and glanced up when he heard Fang's voice.

"There you guys are!"

He stood up with the girl in his arms and glanced back and forth at the two women.

"She's ok...just unconscious from hitting her head...in a couple hours she should be alright."

Fang stood there with her mouth agape as she looked at the man in front of her.

"H...Hope?"

The corner of his lips curled into a smile when he saw the confused look on Fang's face. He arched his shoulder's back and tilted his head with a prideful superhero pose. He smiled like a cheap salesman and winked at the raven beast.

"Yeah I know, older and damned good looking."

Fang didn't even comment on the seemingly arrogant joke that Hope had said to lighten the mood. The young man and the blonde soldier just stood there and smiled at the situation. Light turned to the Oerban beast and grabbed her arm, forcing the latter to look her in the eyes. Fang shot her a confused look and just stood there not knowing what to expect.

"Fang...do you know that..."

Light bit her bottom lip and looked intensely at the younger woman.

"Do you know how fucking happy I am to see you right now?"

She looked at the confused Oerban and pulled her into a fierce hug. The latter didn't know how to react, because the Light she knew certainly wasn't one for hugs.

"Uh...thanks...Li...ght."

The blonde soldier pulled back and looked back and forth between Hope and Fang. She nodded and again took on her stoic expression. Hope understood the sentiment but now wasn't the time for catching up. He looked down at the unconscious Vanille and the looked up at the two women.

"I feel the same but...may I make a suggestion?"

The two women looked at him and he glanced back and forth, a small smile making its way to his lips.

"Let's get the fuck out of here!"


	34. Prepare

Vanille ran into the house, holding a package near and dear to her heart.

It had been six months since Hope and Light had saved them from their prison. Vanille squealed at the sight of a package making it's way so far from Behe.

"What is it?" Fang quirked a brow while flipping a patty on the grill.

Vanille opened the box like a child at Christmas, her eyes shining as she undid the bow that was wrapped so neatly around it.

"It's from Behe babe."

Fang shrugged her shoulders, wiping the sweat that had accumulated on her brow as she continued to barbecue.

"When will they be here?"

The young strawberry stopped her motions and leaned up, kissing the young beast on her sweaty cheek.

"Ew babe, you stink...soon...Light said they were already in Vanerei last time she called."

She winked at the older woman and threw a lustful look over her shoulder as she made her way to their bedroom, along with the package.

She opened the package and looked at the contents with a confused expression.

"Fang!"

The older of the two heard the young strawberry call out her name and turned off the grille, wiping her hands on the towel that hung from the handle.

Making her way to the bedroom she stopped in the doorway, looking at Vanille with a irritated smock.

"What is it...I'm bus-" Vanille jumped up, and walked over to her...silencing her thoughts.

"He's a weird guy Fang...LOOK!"

The young woman held up two crystal carvings, one with Vanille with child, holding hands with Fang...the other of Hope and Light...the same stance.

Fang chuckled and kissed Vanille lightly on the cheek.

"Yes he is a weird guy..."

The two laughed and made their way to the kitchen, preparing for their most important guests.


	35. Visit

Vanille stood on the porch of their house, watching as Hope and Light drove up from the distance. Fang was off inside somewhere, probably cleaning up the mess she made by forgetting one of the patties while she went to the restroom.

Smiling, the two made their way off their bike and over to where the redhead stood.

"Umphh!"

Hope picked Vanille up in a huge bear hug and sat her down again with a smile plastered on his face.

"Uh no fair Hope...what happened to you being little? I would have been picking you up." She waved at Light and gave the strawberry blonde a hug as well.

"Whatever Vanille, you know very well even back then you couldn't pick me up...look at these." He pinched her tiny arm and chuckled.

"Noodle arms."

With a pout she grabbed the bag that Light was holding and peered inside while she started to walk into the house.

"Ohhhh wine...just in time."

Light followed on her heels with a slightly confused expression.

"Time for what?"

Looking back at the two of them as they stood in the living room, Vanille had a stupid smirk on her face.

"Why it's wine thirty in the afternoon, time to get eat and get plastered." Giggling she made her way to the kitchen where Fang was scrambling to get rid of the smell that now dominated the space.

"Hey Fang, you're supposed to cook the food not incinerate it." Light said with her arms crossed and a small smile on her lips. The raven woman looked up from what she was doing and walked over, giving her a huge hug.

"Hey Light, it's called a hug...defense stance not needed. I guess I'll have to get you drunk and then you'll hug me back." with a wink.

"Food's ready...most of it is cooked. Light can have the charcoal patty that I just made...for the rest of us the good ones are on the table." laughing.

The group prepared their plates and made their way to the living room to sit down. The food was actually pretty good.

"That was great. I guess Fang actually can do something besides turning into a monster and blowing everything up." The strawberry soldier remarked, causing the raven woman to raise an eyebrow in amusement.

Vanille got the bottle of wine and poured everyone a glass, and they all sat there taking in the afternoon.

"Oh I almost forgot...we brought you guys a house warming present."

Hope got up and walked over to the bag that he had brought in and pulled out a gift that was neatly wrapped, handing it to Vanille. Taking it, the woman squeaked ,causing Fang to roll her eyes.

The young woman opened it slowly and cupped her mouth when she saw what it was.

"Our box!" she whispered and looked over to Fang who's own eyes had tears building up in them.

"It's the box you gave me..."

Hope and Light looked a bit confused but happy that their gift was eliciting such a reaction.

"Thank you guys so much! This is the best gift in the world. Where did you find this?"

Shrugging her shoulders slightly, Light looked slightly embarrassed.

"I kind of stole it from a room in Oerba village when we were searching for you."

Fang threw her an amused smile and then took the box, eyeing it in disbelief.

"It's a good thing you're a thief then."

Downing the rest her wine she sat there grinning happily. Light shifted and then looked at the two women who were holding hands.

"I guess it's time I just get it over with and tell you two why me and Hope decided to come visit on such short notice."

Vanille looked up with a smile on her face, shifting focus back and forth from the two.

"You're getting married!" clasping her hands together, Vanille nearly squeaked at her own assumption.

"What? No!" Light got up and walked to where the wine bottle was sitting and poured herself another glass.

"We're here because we came to recruit you for a mission."

Fang quirked an eyebrow and looked at Light in anticipation.

"Oh finally! It's so boring here..."

Vanille slapped the raven's arm and looked back up at Light.

"Domestication not your flavor?" Light sat back down and sipped her wine, a small smile on her lips.

"As you know Sazh has been in charge of military operations in the eastern banks of Acleder...there have been rumors of strange activity there that seems eerily similar to what we all went through. I was hoping that you two could accompany us in finding out what's going on."

Vanille looked over at Fang who was sitting, rubbing the back of her head. She stood up suddenly and looked Light straight in the eyes.

"Sounds dangerous...when do we leave?"

Light chuckled softly and sipped her wine.

"You can sit back down Fang, we don't need to leave until morning if you both choose to come with us."

Sitting down, the raven woman looked over at Vanille with expectation. Squeezing her hand, the strawberry just shrugged her shoulders.

"Whatever you want babe, I'll come along."

Fang smiled and then grabbed another bottle of wine, opening it.

"In that case...I say it's time for a celebration." holding her glass up she made a toast.

"Here's to not being crystals, and not being being bored anymore."

"Agreed."

And with that, the four friends enjoyed the night, anticipating the mission they would start on together.

Note:

-I will never ever ever again write Lemon anything...especially straight lemon...that was a disaster.

-Writing is the hardest thing I have ever tried to attempt in my life...and what I mean is writing fiction...I am a finance major who's used to writing screenplays. I am bad at fiction...very very bad. I hope I am getting better though I thought fanfics would be a good way to practice.

-Thank you all for the reviews, it helps when you know someone is reading.

-I might write a sequel someday, if I need the escape bad enough. Sorry it took so long to finish.


End file.
